The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 February 2024
Photo from petalrepublic.com.
It is the last Sunday in February, the second in the Season of Lent and most likely, everybody is feeling like “suddenly” the month is over with everything happening so fast just like in the song Yesterday by the Beatles.
Released in 1965 from their album Help!, Yesterday was actually written by Paul McCartney after a dream while staying with his former girlfriend, Jane Asher. It is a sad love song that speaks, as usual, of break-up.
The lyrics and music are simple that McCartney had to research for sometime if he had copied its melody from an existing music at that time. But, its simplicity and eloquence caught so many generations then and now as the song speaks so well of everyone’s experience. Yesterday one of the most covered songs of all time, being interpreted by almost every artist in all continents over 2000 times since its release!
What I wish to share with you this lovely Sunday is my realization that aside from old music getting better with age as it takes on a life of its own, there is also a simultaneous change and maturity among us listeners and fans of our favorite artists and bands of their music.
I practically grew up listening to the music of the Beatles, being born in 1965, the same year Yesterday was released. I have never understood all their songs but growing up at that time surrounded by their music, I have also fallen in love with the sound of Beatles like most of my generation.
And now, I just felt everything so “suddenly” too, of how fast time flies that indeed, “I’m not half the man I used to be”!
Yesterday all my trouble seemed so far away Now it looks as though they're here to stay Oh I believe in yesterday
Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be There's a shadow hanging over me Oh yesterday came suddenly
It was that line that actually moved me to link Yesterday with the transfiguration of Jesus, “Suddenly I’m not half the man I used to be.”
The lesson is very simple but many times, it could take us a lifetime learning or realizing. Most of all, accepting and owning.
Like the road to Easter, our lives are always marked with so many light and darkness, failures and triumphs, tears and laughter, even little deaths. Jesus tells us in his transfiguration that the scandal of the Cross cannot be removed from the glory of his Resurrection. There can be no Easter Sunday without Good Friday.
The good news is that in every passages in life we go through, every difficulty we hurdle, every pain and sufferings we endure, we always emerge a different person after – not half the man I used to be.
Of course, it still depends on us if we become better or bitter with every pain we go through. But, like the song Yesterday that went through a long process of ups and downs even before being recorded and released, it had emerged a very great music, a classic in our own time.
How consoling to think that great men and women, like McCartney and all the other artists we look up to went through a lot of troubles in life and have emerged better and wiser as persons.
And that’s because Jesus Christ was there first to suffer and die for us so that when he rose again from the dead, we too shall rise with him. Have a blessed week ahead, folks!
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sunday Recipe for the Soul, Lent II-B, 25 February 2024 Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18 ><}}}}*> Romans 8:31-34 ><}}}}*> Mark 9:2-10
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre, 12 February 2024 in Bgy. Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan.
While praying our gospel this Second Sunday in Lent, the song Yesterday by the Beatles kept playing at the back of my mind, especially the first two stanzas that say:
Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
Written by Paul McCartney and recorded by the Beatles in 1965, Yesterday is a sad love song about break up that greatly changed the lost lover who was “Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be.”
Beautiful music, beautiful lyrics on this beautiful Sunday with another beautiful gospel as Mark leads us from the wilderness last week to Mount Tabor with Jesus Christ and his three disciples whose experiences were like the Beatles in Yesterday.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Mark 9:2-3
Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, Israel from custodia.org.
See how the three apostles were overjoyed with the sight of Jesus transfigured, conversing with Moses and Elijah with Peter feeling so “high” that he offered to make three tents for them to remain there. It was the same experience of joy in the Beatles’ Yesterday when McCartney had that great feeling of being loved he thought would last forever.
But,both moments of joy were so brief with the transfiguration cut off immediately after Peter had spoken while McCartney felt his troubles came “suddenly”.
Like his account of Christ’s temptation last Sunday, Mark’s version of the transfiguration is so short unlike those by Matthew and Luke; however, Mark never lost attention to important details that showed the solemnity of the scene from start to finish despite a sudden shift in the mood as they went down the mountain.
As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Mark 9:9-10
For Mark, the transfiguration of Jesus led the disciples to deepen their faith in Jesus amid his growing mystery especially in the light of his oft-repeated Passion, Death and Resurrection, as if telling us of the many troubles ahead on the road to Easter.
Hence, it is no coincidence that like the transfiguration, Mark ended abruptly his gospel account when Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome saw an angel who spoke to them inside the empty tomb of Jesus very early on Easter: Then they went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid (Mk. 16:8). Both in the transfiguration and in the Resurrection, the disciples were dared to reflect deeply on those events that later enabled them to make a firm response in their faith in Christ.
Mosaic inside the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, Israel from commons.wikimedia.org..
The same thing applies to us today. Many troubles lie ahead our lives, inviting us to follow Jesus more closely in prayers and reflections to find the meanings and lessons of life’s light and darkness, joy and sadness, triumph and defeat, even of death that keep on hovering above us, even enveloping us at times. We need to deepen our faith in God who had sent us his Son Jesus never stops doing to be our companion in this journey of life especially when we are passing through mountains and valleys, rivers and seas. In the song Yesterday, McCartney sang of our most common experience of having loved and lost yet taught us so much lessons in life. And music.
One thing was clear with the Apostles – and McCartney too – that even though troubles and problems were always with them along the way, they just lived through it and made the most out of them like the Church, including a classic love song!
How about us today, what is our faith response to the many darkness and light we have gone through in life’s journey?
Photo by Roger Buendia/Presidential Museum and Library via esquiremag.ph.
It is always easy to blame others for our many woes in life as we fail to see our own moments of transfiguration. Jesus gifts us with a personal transfiguration event to make us better to be like him but, do we welcome or, run away from them?
Today is the 38th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution when we must ask ourselves how we have personally responded to that great moment of grace from God, a transfiguration in itself, a pasch like the Lord’s. Have we truly valued EDSA 1986, until now?
How unfortunate that EDSA now stands for everything that is wrong with us, especially our wrong choices and wrong decisions in the past 38 years. EDSA invites us to examine our very selves as a Filipino and as a Christian, a disciple of Christ.
Photo from iStockphoto.com of Mount Tabor in Israel where Jesus is believed to have transfigured.
At his transfiguration, Jesus showed the inseparability of the mystery of the Cross and of his glory on Easter, the closeness of Mount Tabor with Golgotha. The mountain in the bible is always a coming to God, a communion in him.
Every nature lover knows very well the mountain is life itself, difficult to climb, easy to descend. Here now is the beautiful part of the gospel. And song Yesterday. Mountains surely change us but the choice is ours if we want to become better or bitter.
Set on what is believed to be Mount Tabor, the transfiguration was a passage, a foretaste of Christ’s pasch that not only brought him to his glory but transformed too the whole human race and the world itself. In the same manner, McCartney expressed poetically in Yesterday his transformation when “Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be.”
From en.wikipedia.org.
This is the good news of this Sunday: every mountain in life is a grace of transfiguration, of being better persons than before. We never come out – or down – the same persons every time we enter through whatever passages or climb any mountain in life. We are always changed, we always emerge different than who we were before after each passages we came through in life.
God gives us the grace and power to choose to be better and stronger, wiser and holier than bitter or resentful with every trials we hurdle in life. This was the experience of Abraham in the first reading when he completely trusted God who asked him to offer his son Isaac on a mountain. It was a very tough test for Abraham who waited in his old age to have a son only to be sacrificed later? But Abraham never doubted God that he still went up the mountain, and as he was about to sacrifice Isaac, an angel stopped him, telling him how God was so delighted with his faith and obedience that he was eventually blessed abundantly after.
Each of us is passing through different trials at this very moment. Many times we feel we suffer more than others, that our tests are tougher than the rest. It is useless and a waste of time to compare ourselves with others. One thing is clear: God does not stop doing something good for us in Jesus, ensuring we get better each day than yesterday. Let the words of St. Paul today assure us that “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not give us everything else along with him? (Rom. 8:31-32)” Have a blessed week ahead, fellow traveler in Christ! Let us pray:
God our loving Father, thank you for the gift of this Season of Lent so we may experience more your Son Jesus Christ's coming to us in this journey of life, our companion amid the darkness and light and many troubles including the little deaths we experience in life; give us the faith and trust of Abraham to offer you those dearest to us because if ever you ask something from us, it is to make more room in ourselves for your abounding grace and gifts of transformation in Christ Jesus with Mary, our Lady of Fatima. Amen.
This Sunday, 25 February 2024, is also the Canonical Coronation of the National Pilgrim Image of Fatima here in Valenzuela City, the very image raised at EDSA in 1986. Photo from cbcp.net.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 February 2023 James 1:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 8:11-13
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee in Israel, May 2019.
Dear Jesus: I love that word "kind" from the responsorial psalm "Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live" and that scene from the Gospel when you "sighed": the word "kind" is from the root "kin" or "kindred", that is, someone like us, from the same family, or the same tribe; being kind is treating others as one's family or kin and that is how you are to us - kind!
And you were most like one of us, and kind, dear Jesus when you "sighed from the depth of your spirit" (Mk. 8:12) after the Pharisees asked you for sign from heaven to prove you were the Christ; of course, that meant nothing for the Pharisees but for us who believe in you, it was something; like you, dear Jesus, many times we sigh out of exasperation and exhaustion, acceptance and surrender, hope and inspiration to persevere, to keep on, to forge on in life.
You became like us, dear Jesus, in everything except sin but, when you sighed we felt you being so kind too, truly a brother to us like when St. James addressed us 15 times as "brothers and sisters" in his short letter while teaching us the important lesson of bearing all trials in life as you did at your Crucifixion, Lord.
Whenever we sigh, may we remember your kindness, your being one with us, Jesus because you too sighed during those amazing moments of difficulties and trials, powerlessness and poverty when we most gain character and depth as person, not when we are strong and powerful or successful. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 11 February 2024 Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthian 10:31-11:1 ><}}}}*> Mark 1:40-45
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre in Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.
We have seen these past two Sundays Jesus Christ’s personal manner of relating with everyone. It had always been Jesus coming, touching, and speaking directly to the man possessed with unclean spirit at the synagogue in Capernaum on a sabbath and later the sick mother-in-law of Simon Peter at home.
Jesus has always been coming to everyone – to us – in the most personal manner. And he would always ensure all “barriers are down” around him so that we too can approach him like in our gospel this Sunday when a leper came to him for healing.
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Mark 1:40-42
From vaticannews.va
For the third consecutive Sunday, Mark tells us another healing by Jesus at the start of his ministry in Galilee. This is the last in the series but this is so unique because it was the sick who approached Jesus.
Most of all, that sick was afflicted with leprosy, the worst disease considered at that time when people believed (until now) that any sickness and handicap was a punishment from God for sins committed. Leprosy was the worst because it reminded them of the boils God inflicted on the Egyptians when the pharaoh refused to let them go home to their Promised Land with Moses as leader.
More than the ugly sight of the disease, leprosy became the perfect metaphor for sin and punishment. That is why God himself in the first reading personally issued the health guidelines for anyone with leprosy and similar diseases of the skin. Though God’s prescriptions were more of hygienic purposes, these took on a deeper spiritual meaning for the Israelites especially when lepers have to be separated from the community that it seemed for them, it was indeed a punishment for a grave sin.
Jesus radically changed that perception in this healing of the leper who had approached him.
A leper came to Jesus...
From wikipedia.commons.
Inasmuch as Jesus comes to us everyday as we have seen these past two Sundays, Jesus assures us today that we can always come to him like that leper.
See how this scene was unimaginable because lepers were given strict orders at that time to never approach anyone while people were supposed to drive them away. Where were the four disciples supposed to be following Jesus? And, wasn’t anyone there to restrain that leper from getting close to Jesus?
It seemed Jesus was by himself when the leper approached him as Mark never bothered to tell us of any witnesses at all nor the exact time and location of this incident because this scene happens everyday in our lives. The fact that the leper was able to get near Jesus who welcomed him warmly that day is actually the good news today - Jesus wants us to leave our comfort zones to join him in the middle of the street of his journeys!
Jesus comes to us in the most personal way everyday. And the good news is, nothing can keep us away from Jesus, even our sins which leprosy signified in this story. All barriers are down when Jesus comes and calls us to approach him. No restrictions nor appointments needed to see Jesus who simply wants us to get closest with him like when he “indignantly” told the disciples to let the children come to him (Feast of Sto. Niño, Jan. 21, 2024, Mk. 10:14).
What prevents you or keeps you away from approaching Jesus who passes by everyday?
"I do will it. Be made clean."
Painting by James Tissot (1836-1902) of “Healing of Lepers of Capernaum” from catholic-resources.org.
In his healings these past two Sundays, recall how Mark presented them to us who seemed detached or far from Jesus like spectators watching, astonished and amazed with his authority as the Son of God, all-powerful and beyond us.
This Sunday, Mark shatters all those feelings within us, telling us to dismiss all those thoughts of Jesus being hard to reach when a leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
Imagine Jesus and you as the leper in this beautiful scene, experiencing the power of his words and hands together!
The words, “I do will it. Be made clean” shows us again the authority of Jesus in his words being sufficient to effect healing like when the Roman centurion declared to him, “only say the word and my servant will be healed” (Mt. 8:8/Lk. 7:7) or when he told the unclean spirit in the man in a synagogue, “Quiet! Come out of him!” (Mk. 1:25).
What is most unique in this Sunday healing is how Jesus felt deep inside that strong love for the leper -for each of us today – that he was filled with compassion to be “Moved with pity”. It was more than an emotion or a feeling within. To be moved with pity is to have one’s heart stirred or disturbed – the literal meaning of the Latin misericordia or mercy. See now the progression from the heart of Jesus, in his compassion and mercy, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
So beautiful! And that happens everyday if we approach Jesus no matter how dark our sins are, no matter how sad we may be or even devastated. Come to your worst like that leper and Jesus will gladly welcome you, heal you, forgive you because he loves you so much!
Photo by Ms. Analyn Dela Torre in Caypombo, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 04 February 2024.
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Oh, how easy it is to approach Jesus for sinners and weak people like us but is there anyone like Jesus who puts all barriers down to be approachable through our parents and siblings, teachers and friends, and priests to express what’s deepest in our hearts?
Is there still a St. Paul among us who can humbly declare, “Be imitators of me, as I am an imitator of Christ” who welcomes modern lepers getting near for love and affection, even company?
St. Paul may seem to be boasting to us modern people these days but if we try to understand the context of our second reading, we realize the great apostle was simply being humbly honest and true. The Christians at Corinth never saw Jesus like St. Paul. They needed a model to imitate Christ which St. Paul ably provided them with. After all, St. Paul had truly conformed himself to the crucified Christ (Gal. 2:19) as attested by the early Christians.
And while it is true we are all called to imitate Jesus, we priests are expected to be more like the Crucified Christ – approachable especially by the sick and the poor. How sad when we priests are more seen with the rich and powerful, in all their lavish parties but never or rarely with the poor. The same is true with church workers and volunteers when those at the margins find them difficult to approach. Something is gravely wrong with us if people find us priests and lay Christians difficult to approach because, clearly, we are not imitators of Christ. Have a blessed week ahead as we approach Jesus this Ash Wednesday for the 40-day journey towards Easter. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 February 2024 1 Kings 11:29-32, 12:19 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Mark 7:31-37
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) somewhere in the Visayas, December 2023.
Today, dear God, I share in the joy of the people at the time of your Son Jesus when he healed a deaf in the district of Decapolis:
They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Mark 7:37
Yes, loving Father, you have done all things well, so very well in fact, in Jesus Christ our Lord that I am also exceedingly astonished with your love and mercy.
When I look back to my life even amid all the storms and failures I have had, you still have done all things well in my favor; when I remember those sufferings I almost gave up and quit, you have done all things in my favor, making me stronger and better, even wiser today; when I look back to the many losses and defeats I have had, you still have done all things well in my favor, teaching me the values of perseverance, patience, and fulfillment, as well as the differences between happiness and joy, success and fruitfulness.
Dear Father, keep us open to your grace and wisdom and plans for us; most of all, keep us open to Jesus Christ who comes to us always even in paths we least expect to find him, in backward routes no one takes, and in foreign territories we refuse to venture into. Let our daily prayer include his command, "Ephphatha"! Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin & Martyr, 05 February 2024 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56
Photo by Mr. Boy Cabrido, kids playing “piko” outside patio of the National Shrine of St. Michael & the Archangels in San Miguel, Manila, 04 February 2024.
On this first working day of the week, we pray to you dear Father, may we share your loving presence we experienced at the Sunday Mass to everyone we shall meet today; like Jesus your Son, may we "approach, touch and raise" especially those who are down in trials and tribulations in life; dwell in our hearts, Lord, like when your clouds envelop the temple built by Solomon when they placed your Ark of the Covenant at the Holy of Holies.
When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord so that priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the Lord’s glory had filled the temple of the Lord.
1 Kings 8:10-11
Dwell on us your people, Lord; fill us with your grace of courage to witness your love and truth among peoples like St. Agatha who died remaining a virgin for your holy name after enduring so much pains from her torturers who cut off her breasts but with the intercession of St. Peter the Apostle, her wounds were healed, making her the patron saint of those with breast cancer; you know O Lord the pains and difficulties those with cancer go through; give them the strength to withstand the long process of treatments along with their loved ones; never let them lose hope in you through Jesus Christ who never gets tired "crossing the lake" to reach the sick; have mercy on those with all kinds of cancer, bless those who were healed and in remission, and please accept the souls of those who have died. Amen.
From en.wikipedia.org, painting of St. Agatha with her severed breasts that many thought to be loaves of bread that is why in some churches in Europe, breads are distributed during her memorial.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 February 2024
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Laguna Campus in Sta. Rosa, 19 February 2024.
Our gospel this Sunday speaks a lot about the importance of person-to-person communication, of the healing wonders of the sense of touch and its deeper implications in our relationships when Jesus healed the mother-in-law of Simon Peter.
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
Mark 1:29-31
See how the evangelist narrated in details the healing by Jesus who “approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.” More than the actual touching and face-to-face or actual encounter, the scene speaks so well of deep personal relationships among us. That is why we have chosen Rupert Holmes’ 1976 single Touch and Go.
Nobody said that Life is always fair Sometimes it clips your wings While you’re in mid-air But there’s a thread Between your life and mine And when you’re losin’ hope This rope won’t unwind
REFRAIN: Hold on tight ‘Cause life is touch and go It’s sink and swim But never doubt If you’re out on a limb I’ll get the call To break your fall I’ll never leave you Even when life Is touch and go Or hit and run We’ll never break If we take it as one I’m here to stay, I pray you know I’ll never touch I’ll never touch and go
Someday you’ll find There’s nothin’ in the night That wasn’t there before You turned out the light Straight from your mind The monster ‘neath your bed The voices in the hall They’re all in your head
A gifted musician with a knack in story-telling, Holmes’ songs are always imbued with his deep insights about life he had gathered from ordinary experiences like his earlier hit Terminal (1974) and his two hit singles Escape (The Piña Colada Song) in 1979 and Him in 1980. These three are all dashed with humor that can tickle our bones but disturb our conscience too.
In Touch and Go, Holmes goes philosophical, sounding a bit like Job in today’s first reading of how life can sometimes be unfair that “Sometimes it clips your wings while you’re on mid-air” while assuring his beloved of his deep love and dedication that no matter what happens, he would always be there by her side to save her.
That is exactly what Jesus tells us in the gospel this Sunday, of how he would always approach us, grasp our hand and help us up when we are down. The question is, are we in touch with Jesus too? Or, we always go and leave him especially when things are doing great in our lives?
If us humans like Holmes can boldly assure our beloved of always being there, of being in touch and connected especially in times of trials and sufferings, all the more is Jesus Christ who had come to empower us by connecting us with God and one another always in loving service (https://lordmychef.com/2024/02/03/real-power-empowers/).
It is a Sunday. Don’t forget to celebrate Mass or go to your places of worship to get in touch with God and with others in your community. Here is Rupert Holmes to help you chill more on this cool February Sunday amidst life’s many “touch and go, sink and swim” situations.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 02 February 2024 Malachi 3:1-4 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 2:22-40
Presentation in the Temple painting by Fra Angelico from fineartamerica.com.
On this most joyous feast of the Lord's Presentation in the Temple, we pray, dear Father for the same grace you gave your servant Simeon to see each day the coming of your Son Jesus Christ, the true light of the world, the only light to guide our lives.
Grant us the grace, O God, to persevere in our prayer life like Simeon and Anna who spent much of their days at the temple, praying and fasting that they became attuned with your Holy Spirit.
How amazing that despite the many couples coming to the temple on that day, Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus in the arms of Mary with Joseph; many times in life, we are so distracted with so many other people we look up to, we believe in so much thinking them to be the light who will guide us in this life; there are times we look at new ideas and novel thoughts and ways so bright that we easily follow them as light to dispel the many darkness in our life; and there are times, O God, we simply lose hope looking for your light, waiting for your Son Jesus that we leave your side to make our own light because of many distractions like failures and disappointments within us.
Let us be focused in Jesus only like Simeon and Anna for he surely comes each day amid the hustle and bustle of life's daily grinds; do not let us be discouraged by the many difficulties and trials that come our way daily for Jesus comes when we least expect him, in instances we never expect like Mary and Joseph despite having the Savior with them still complied with the dictates of the Law; most of all, Jesus came at the old age of Simeon and Anna when it was more easier to just give up from waiting.
May we be able to pray every night despite the darkness around us, Simeon's Canticle:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
Luke 2:29-32
Lord Jesus, let us see you so that we can make others see you too in us and through us. Amen.
Photo by author, surise at Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 2023.
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 Monday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 29 January 2024 2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 5:1-20
An illustration of the healing of the Gerasenes demoniac from Pinterest.
On this final week of January as we approach in two weeks the Season of Lent, you teach us today, dear Father with many lessons about "facing" evil; at first, I felt evil is always "confronted", something we always fight head on but from the two readings today, your words tell me O Lord there are times we just have to stand firm against evil without necessarily fighting it out right away but not condoning it either.
But the king replied: ”What business is it of mine or of yours, sons of Zeruiah, that he curses? Suppose the Lord has told him to curse David; who then will dare say to, ‘Why are you doing this'” Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: ”If my own son, who came forth from loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite to do! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and mae it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.”
2 Samuel 16:10-12
Give me, O God, the same patience of David to accept the evils happening to me as I am guilty of so many evils too; like David, let me be mindful always of my own evil ways and sins that definitely will haunt me, will chase me, and will charge me later in recompense for my own sins too. There are times, Lord, that I must accept how I deserve some evil to befall me as a result of my own sinfulness like David.
If ever the evils that come to me are undeserved, keep my cool and patience, as well as goodwill like Jesus Christ your Son and our Lord; after healing the Gerasenes demoniac, he was driven out from the town by the people; many times, people do not understand anything at all when evils befall us and others; maintain my peace within me, Lord, that I may not react against my accusers like you especially when they all get it wrong; let me tower over everyone else with firm faith in you, dignity in silence, and clear conscience when people wrongly accuse me of deeds I am not guilty of for you alone is my salvation. Amen.
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