The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest & Doctor of Church, 14 December 2023 Isaiah 41:13-20 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 11:11-15
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father, for this wondrous day of Memorial of your great mystic and servant, St. John of the Cross; in his life and example attested by his great writings exuding with immense and intense love for you, he had shown us how true were the words of Jesus your Son:
Jesus said to the crowds: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Matthew 11:11
Yes, dear God, almighty yet so gracious and merciful, you have blessed us to be witnesses of your love and power in Christ Jesus; let us listen to your words always, let them sink into our hearts so we may feel and nurture and share your love to one another; like St. John of the Cross who, after going through so much trials and sufferings in life asked, "Who has ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness?" How great indeed is your power of love that despite the losses and pains we go through in life, the more we love, the more we feel stronger, the more we feel blessed!
You alone, O Lord, is our help, our life, our strength despite our being "worm" and "maggot" like Israel (Isaiah 41:14); let us accept our littleness before you so Christ may come and dwell in us to fill us with your love so we may imitate St. John of the Cross who taught us, "Where there is no love, put love - and you will find love" because "A soul that walks in love is never tired and never gets tried." Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin & Martyr, 13 December 2023 Isaiah 40:25-31 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 11:11-15
Photo by author, Advent week II, Basic Education Department chapel, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela, 2021.
My dear Jesus: despite the cold weather and festive mood of this season, there is this feeling inside me of the world, even your church being so fragmented and broken, with so many divisions and competitions among us, the favoritisms and injustices by those above us that have spawned in us so many feelings of entitlement and privileges.
Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?” Do you not know or have you not heard? The Lord is eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Isaiah 40:27-29
Thank you, dear Jesus, for your coming to us, for your Advent; most of all, for your sublime gentleness, calling us all to "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give your rest" (Matthew 11:28).
Heal our fragmented lives, our fragmented society, our fragmented Church; open our eyes, open our hearts and our arms to embrace you especially among those broken too so we may finally forge anew that bonding in you. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December 2023 Zechariah 2:14-17 ><}}}}*> + <*{{{{>< Luke 1:26-38
The original “tilma” of St. Juan Diego at the New Basilica of the Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City. Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Diocese of Iba, Zambales, 2016.
What a joy for us, to have you, O Most Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother too courtesy of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ; you who was the first welcome and receive him, you never had the season of Advent itself for you were an Advent in yourself.
And your advent never stopped.
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord. silence, all mankind, in the presence of the Lord! For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
Zechariah 2:14, 17
How quick were you to appear in the New World at that great period of discoveries, appearing in Mexico to Juan Diego to proclaim Christ's coming; and they realized and experienced so soon through you Christ's coming and reign!
You have never stopped in reminding us of the presence and coming of Jesus in our own time; teach us to be like you, O Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, always humble and simple, one with us, looking like us, walking with us in our own time and milieu, carrying Jesus, sharing Jesus, showing Jesus. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Second Week of Advent, 11 December 2023 Isaiah 35:1-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 5:17-26
Photo by author, Advent Sunday II, 2021, Basic Education Department chapel of Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City.
Thank you, dear God, our loving Father for this Season of Advent, a season of our vindication in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; what a joy to hear your words on this Monday of the Second Week in Advent through the Prophet Isaiah:
Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God: he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.
Isaiah 35:3-4
Vindication, O God, is one word we miss so much these days, an experience we long for when finally we are proven right or true, and most of all, justified; it is a difficult mission from you, dear Father, to always walk in your ways, to follow your will especially in this world when being true and faithful, honest and kind, loving and caring are looked down upon as signs of weakness; it is so difficult to be good and holy, just like those men carrying that paralytic to enter the room to get near to Jesus Christ.
Teach us to persevere always, Lord Jesus like those men, to never give up on you, to always find ways even if we have to climb our way up just to go down to you to experience your healing and mercy. Most of all, your vindication. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Second Sunday in Advent, Cycle B, 10 December 2023 Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11 ><}}}*> 2 Peter 3:8-14 ><}}}*> Mark 1:1-8
Photo by author, the Forest Lodge, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
It has been a week since we started our new liturgical year with the Season of Advent. And let’s admit that we have hardly noticed how fast time passes by these days with all the parties and gatherings we have been having since December started!
And that is the joy of patient waiting even in the dark during this time of active waiting for Jesus Christ’s Second Coming which is the first phase of this Season of Advent.
If we remain and persevere to be faithful in Jesus and his teachings, we realize that every day in life is always a new beginning in Christ to start anew in becoming a better disciple. We hardly notice the passing of time when we love and serve God in others because we experience that life is more of a series of beginnings than of endings as Mark reminds us at the start of his gospel account:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Mark1:1
Photo by author, Malolos Cathedral Advent 2019.
Mark was the first to write a gospel account, composing it in Rome in the year 70 AD when the early Christians who were mostly of Jewish origins were under persecution. For his audience of Jewish origins, the word beginning meant a lot like the Book of Genesis, connoting how God is always present amid the persecution, of how order comes after chaos.
In simply declaring to us “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God”, Mark is reminding us how God is always starting a new creation, a new order, a new revelation in us and among us.
Very often, beginning connotes an ending; but, not with God nor with the gospel who is Jesus Christ. Remember how Mark’s gospel ended abruptly and unexpectedly in the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome who all “fled… bewildered and trembling… in great fear that they said nothing to anyone” (Mk.16:1-8).
By “ending” his gospel account that way, Mark actually wanted his listeners that include us today to continue writing and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in our own lives. For Mark, the gospel never ends but simply begins over and over again through the lives of disciples who meet and befriend Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Photo by author, Advent 2018.
Now, to think of the beginning is to remember our origin or starting point, the person of Jesus Christ.
The late Fr. Henri Nouwen used to say that the word remember means “to make a member a part again”; hence, re-membering our beginning is making God in Jesus Christ a part of our lives again, of our present moment again.
More than just going back to the basics shouted by everyone these days even in the Church, remembering our beginning is bringing back the person of Jesus Christ in our lives today. That is what a new beginning means, a return to the person of Jesus Christ who is the essence of Christmas, of the Church, of the world.
Everything in life becomes clear when we begin in Jesus Christ. All these questions we have been asking inside, the many whys of life, will only be answered and clarified when we begin in Jesus. Many in the world would say it is very simplistic but, the problems of the world then and now are all due to the removal Jesus Christ from our hearts, homes, offices, and classrooms, and relationships. Begin again in Christ and see how everything, everyone becomes new and beautiful again!
Photo by author, Advent 2018.
Sometimes, Mark’s gospel is called the “Gospel of Beginnings” because of his frequent mention of Jesus “beginning” to do something like when “he began to teach” in many occasions in the synagogue and temple area (Mk. 4:1, 6:2 and 34, and 8:31) or when “he began to speak in parables” (Mk. 12:1); when Jesus came to Jerusalem and entered the temple, “he began to cleanse” it (Mk.11:15) while at the agony in the garden, “he began to be troubled” (Mk. 14:33).
All these indicate how our ministries began in Jesus Christ and nowhere do we find Mark telling us Jesus had ended them all. In fact, in the longer ending of his gospel that was later on added by his followers, we find Jesus telling his disciples that include us today to continue with his works and mission. Every mission we have in life especially in the Church must always begin in Jesus Christ.
After all, when we reflect on Mark’s brief opening sentence to his gospel account that associated the word beginning with the Lord’s name Jesus Christ, we find him telling us that same truth that everything created began in Jesus Christ as expounded by John at his prologue (Jn. 1:1-5) and Paul in his letter to the Colossians 1:15-20.
Examine how John and Paul beautifully expressed in poetry their theology simply expressed by Mark as “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God”.
Here we find that even if Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four gospel accounts, “brevity is the soul of wit” (Shakespeare in Hamlet). And that is the short of all these things we believe in and hold so dearly in our faith: Jesus Christ as the beginning and the origin of everything.
There lies the challenge to us these days when people no longer remember, and even willing to forget God and Jesus Christ: of how like Mark we can always begin each day, our work and ministries, our missions and everything in Jesus Christ. In the first reading, God calls us through the Prophet Isaiah to comfort his people, especially those sick and weary, those losing hope in life that until now happens. Perhaps because what we keep on offering others are not really the essential one, Jesus Christ, our beginning.
It is a brand new week again as we get closer to Christmas and most especially to Parousia. The problems and darkness remain in our lives. The words of Peter in the second reading today are scary when God “dissolves” everything at the Parousia; however, it is a call for us believers to witness the hope in Christ’s coming not by our words and beliefs but by our witnessing to Jesus Christ, by the holiness of our lives that begin in Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 08 December 2023 Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Bella, Stresa, Italia 2019.
Until now, many Catholics still get wrong the meaning of the Immaculate Conception of Mary we celebrate today. Very often, they thought it is the Immaculate Conception of Jesus by Mary his Mother.
Wrong. The Immaculate Conception refers to St. Anne’s pregnancy of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to Ineffabilis Deus issued by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854 establishing the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary that had long been held as a tradition in the Church, the Blessed Virgin “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of sin.”
Unlike everyone of us stained by original sin, Mary in all eternity was spared from any sin by God himself so that she would be pure and clean to conceive and bear, and eventually gave birth to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Count the months from December 8 to September 8 the birthday of Mary, you get exactly nine months and perhaps that gives you a clearer picture now of what the Immaculate Conception refers to. But, what should rely merit more of our attention in this great celebration happening also in this merry month of December is the great reality of how God works in wondrous and mysterious ways among us, asking for our cooperation for its realization.
Are we willing to be like the Blessed Virgin Mary to be God’s partner in bringing salvation in this world?
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Einsiedeln Abbey, Einsiedeln, Switzerland, 2019.
Maybe one of the sources of confusion on the Immaculate Conception is the fact that it is not found in the Scriptures. See how our gospel today actually speaks of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus Christ; however, from this we can also glean Mary’s Immaculate Conception by being referred twice by Luke as a virgin.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:26-28
It is very interesting to keep in mind that the two dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption issued 100 years later – speak of our beginning and end. In the Immaculate Conception, we are reminded of our original status of being pure and sinless until the fall of Adam and Eve we have heard in the first reading. The Assumption on the other hand, tells us of our destiny in the future, of “the resurrection of body and life everlasting”.
Originally before our fall, we have always been clean and sinless. Like Mary in her Immaculate Conception. See how Luke was very specific in using twice the term virgin or parthenos in Greek because at that time like ours, not all maidens were virgin.
Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.
Virginity here does not only speak of the physical sense but also of the deeper spiritual meaning of being clean and open to receive, to accept God in our hearts, in our being. A virgin is someone who is pure and clean of heart like in the Beatitude taught by Jesus Christ at his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8).
How sad that in our highly competitive and materialistic world, the value of virginity is laughed at or even frowned upon like a handicap or a shortcoming, clear sign of how far we have veered away from God and his teachings. Worst, we have limited our views of virginity and purity to the physical level, forgetting to shift to higher level of understanding and appreciation.
To have a clean or pure heart is to be like Jesus Christ, wholly united and obedient to the Father. Jesus himself proclaimed that everything he had said and done were not his but of the Father. That is the purity of the heart of Jesus, deeply one in the Father that he was the first to see God.
And that is also the kind of person our Blessed Mother is, the model disciple of Jesus her Son for having a heart one with his that on her Assumption she truly became the first to see God too!
Recall also how at the wedding feast in Cana, Mary showed us the example of having a clean heart, of “doing whatever he tells you” which she later proved at the foot of the Cross by standing there with Jesus until his death. That is why according to the meditation of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Risen Lord first appeared to his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary because she was the first to believe in him totally.
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual of Iba, Zambales at the Cathedral of Barcelona, Spain in 2019.
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, we are reminded that like her, we are all filled with grace from God in Jesus Christ. St. Paul beautifully expressed this in our second reading today.
Brothers and sisters: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.
Ephesians 1:3-4
The grace of this Solemnity is the reality how God continues to work his wondrous deeds in this world among us, in us through his Son Jesus Christ. But, all his plans can only be realized when we his children are willing to cooperate with him, to be open like Mary to receive Jesus Christ.
Again, we do not have to take everything in the literal sense. God announces to us his coming every day not through the angel Gabriel but through those people around us, especially those we take for granted like the weak and marginalized, the children we do not take seriously because they are kids or the senior people especially the old and sick we find as burdensome.
Like Mary, we are all full of grace, the Lord is with us. Can we show him in our loving service to one another?
Let us pause on this day to go back to our roots in God, our origin and end in order to have that empty space for his Son Jesus Christ to come and work in us in healing us and our very sick world. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-06 ng Disyembre 2023
Larawan kuha ng may akda sa Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga noong Nobyembre 2022.
Huwag sanang masamain itong aking lathalain tungkol sa isang hindi magandang gawain tuwing panahon ng Pasko ng Pagsilang ng Panginoong Jesus nating mahal. Totoong sa panahong ito na malamig ang simoy ng hangin at dama ang tuwa at kagalakan ng lahat saanman ngunit mayroong ilan na hindi maganda ang mga nasa loobin at damdamin.
Tunay nga na ang diwa ng Pasko ay ang pagbibigay ng dakilang handog ng Diyos sa atin ng Kanyang Bugtong na Anak kung kaya tayo man ay tinatawagang magbahagi ng biyaya at pagpapala Niya sa ating kapwa; ngunit, hindi nangangahulugang sasamantalahin natin ang panghihingi kaninuman. Hindi naman malaking bahagi ng Kapaskuhan ang panghihingi kumpara sa gampaning magbigay at magbahagi.
Gayun din naman, sakaling tayo ay manghihingi, ito ay dapat sa diwa pa rin ng ginawang pagbibigay ng Diyos ng Kanyang Anak sa atin. Alalaong baga, lagi nating isaalang-alang ang pagmamahal o charity sa tuwing tayo ay hihingi. At mamamasko. Magbigay man o manghingi, Pasko man o hindi, dapat si Kristo ang batayan ng ating gawain.
Dalawang bagay ang ibig kong ibahagi.
Larawan kuha ng may akda sa Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga noong Nobyembre 2022.
Una ay dapat nating alalahanin na kusa ang pagbibigay at pagbabahagi. Huwag tayong namimilit sa panghihingi. Mayroong mga iba na kung makahingi at mamasko ay parang may pinatago. Higit sa lahat, akala mo obligasyon ng lahat ng hingian ay magbigay!
Minsan nakita ko post ng isang kaibigan naninirahan sa Canada. Tahasan niyang sinabi sa kanyang post sa Facebook na huwag na siyang anyayahan maging “friend” kasi malulungkot lang sila. Paliwanag ng kaibigan ko palagi na lang daw kasunod ng pag-anyaya sa kanya sa Facebook ay, “mare, pahiram naman…”
Juice colored! Akala ko ako lang ang ginaganoon! At lalong nagulat ang kaibigan ko na pati daw ba ako ay hinihingian? E oo ika ko. Gusto pa nga ng iba ay G-cash e wala naman akong ganun.
Larawan kuha ng may akda sa Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga noong Nobyembre 2022.
Hindi lahat ng tao ay nakaluluwag sa buhay. At kung sakali mang sila ay nakaririwasa, hindi ito dahilan para sila ay hingan. At hingan ng hingan.
Aaminin ko sa inyo na talamak ito sa mga taong-simbahan na wala nang ginawa kungdi manghingi nang manghingi.
Tanungin ninyo kung ano kanilang naibigay pati ng kanilang pari, wala. Ni panahon hindi makapagbigay, ni ayaw magmisa, hindi mahagilap at kung makahingi, wagas. At may presyo pa!
Higit sa lahat, yung iba nananakot pa kung hindi magbibigay ay baka daw “malasin”. Sila na rin ang sumalungat sa turo na walag suwerte suwerte sa pananampalataya dahil lahat ay pagpapala.
Pakaisipin din sana natin ngayong panahon ng Kapaskuhan lalo na marahil ay mayroong “favorite charity” o mga sadyang binabahaginan at tinutulungan ang marami nating mga kababayan lalo na yaong mga nakaluluwag sa kabuhayan. Maging ang Panginoong Jesus ay hindi naman pinagbigyan ang lahat ng lumapit sa kanya noon.
Larawan kuha ng may akda sa Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga noong Nobyembre 2022.
Ikalawa, maging magalang sa panghihingi. Nakalulungkot kasi na maraming tao ngayon ang hindi na yata marunong mahiya sa panghihingi. Wala man lamang pagpipitagan. Gaya nga ng daing ng kaibigan ko, akala mo makikipag-kaibigan pero iba pala ang layon.
Ito yung mga text na bitin tulad ng “Pare…” o kaya ay “mare”. Sinasabi ko yan maski sa mga kakilala ko. Huwag na huwag kayong magtetext ng bitin. Yun bang akala mo mayroong masamang nangyari kaya ikaw naman biglang titingin sabay text ulit ng humihingi ng pabor.
Pasensiya na po. Ang tawag doon ay “kawalan ng modo.” Kabastusan.
Laganap ang sisteng ito sa internet lalo na noong 2020 nang kasagsagan ng COVID pandemic at lockdown. Noong Kapaskuhan noon, mayroong nagtanong sa akin na tama daw ba iyong gawain ng ilang inaanak na namamasko at sinasabing i-Gcash na lang kanilang aguinaldo?
Sabi ko ay hindi. Iyon ika ko ay kawalan ng paggalang. Pang-aabuso. Walang pinagkaiba sa holdap.
Larawan kuha ng may akda sa Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga noong Nobyembre 2022.
Muli, walang obligasyon ang sino man na magbigay at magregalo kanino man kahit kailan. Kusa ang pagreregalo. Higit sa lahat, ang regalo ay tanda ng pagkatao ng nagbigay. Kung ipipilit ang panghihingi ng tulong o abuloy o regalo, samakatwid, kinalimutan ang pagkatao ng hinihingian.
At iyan ang mabahong simoy ng Pasko.
Pumarito si Kristo at nagkatawang-tao katulad natin upang ipakita sa atin ang ating dangal bilang tao. Na ang daan sa pagiging katulad ng Diyos na banal ay sa pagpapakatao. Kung ang tuon ng pansin ngayong Pasko ay ang regalo, abuloy, o tulong na makakamit, ibig sabihin wala ang diwa ni Kristo sa nanghihingi.
Ituring na lang silang mga tulisan o mga mapagsamantala sa pagkakataon. At sana ay maimulat din sa tunay na diwa ng Pasko, ng pagbibigay at panghihingi. Simple lang naman ang paanyaya ng Diyos sa atin na ibahagi si Kristo araw-araw sa ating pagmamahal at paglilingkod ano mang panahon. Higit sa mga pera at bagay na kaloob ay ang sariling pagkatao. Nawa ay maging makabuluhan at kaaya-aya ang inyong Kapaskuhan!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the First Week of Advent, 05 December 2023 Isaiah 11:1-10 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 10:21-24
Praise and glory to you, God our Father for this Season of Advent!
Indeed we are so blessed in your Son Jesus Christ for "many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it" (Luke 10:24).
How wonderful are your plans, most merciful Father, in making a shoot sprout from the stump of Jesse and from its roots a bud blossom (Isaiah 11:1), Jesus Christ.
As we await his Second Coming, help us realize, bring into reality, his most beautiful portrait saw by Isaiah: "Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like ox. The baby shall play by the cobras den, and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair" (vv.5-8).
Let us witness the gospel of Jesus to effect peace that until now has eluded us because we have refused to recognize Jesus, follow Jesus, be like Jesus.
Let us be like Jesus who is just, not judging by appearance nor deciding by hearsay, siding with the poor not with the rich, speaking always of his truth and justice.
We are so blessed in Jesus Christ who had come, who is come who will come again; make us responsible enough to see Jesus more clearly, to understand his vision deeply, to listen to his words acutely so he may be found in us already. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, 30 November 2023
Romans 10:9-18 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Matthew 4:18-22
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee, Israel, May 2019.
I have always wondered, Lord Jesus,
what was there in your lodging
to which Andrew "came and saw"
that he followed you right away?
What was there, or not there,
in the vast Lake of Galilee that
Andrew along with his brother Peter
that "Immediately they left their boat
and their father and followed you",
Jesus (Matthew 4:22)?
It seems to me, dear Jesus,
it was not the thing outside
that Andrew saw and did not see
that he promptly followed you;
his promptness in following you
was a result of something he both
found inside and did not find
within himself - that is YOU!
Teach me to be prompt in responding
to your call, dear Jesus, by admitting
the emptiness within me only YOU can
fill and make complete;
many times, I keep on looking for something
and somebody else in life when it is YOU
whom I should first search within me;
many times, I keep on coming and seeing
somewhere else when it is always YOU, Jesus,
who come first to me to see
and experience in the most ordinary,
even routinary circumstances of
daily life.
Dear Jesus,
teach me to be like St. Andrew
to keep that desire within to never
be contented, to constantly seek and
promptly follow you so
that I may proclaim you
more boldly.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 27 November 2023
Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 21:1-4
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 17 November 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
our loving Father!
Thank you
in bringing us closer to you
in Jesus everyday
especially in this final stretch
of our church calendar
as we come to prepare for Christmas soon.
But, rather than focusing
on the outside appearances
and material inclinations
of our Christmas feelings,
teach us to empty ourselves
to be filled by you in Jesus Christ!
Let us be poor, O God!
Let us embrace poverty
and simplicity
to experience you,
your coming,
your presence
in Jesus,
our Emmanuel!
Let us treasure poverty
for it is our true wealth
in this life
like that “poor old widow”
who gave everything she had
into the temple collection box;
let us realize that it is in poverty
that we find true wisdom
and strength
like what Daniel and his companions
have taught the chief chamberlain
of King Nebuchadnezzar
(Daniel 1:11-20).
Let us be poor, O God,
like Jesus Christ to find
power and strength in weakness,
glory and honor in humility,
and life in death.
Amen.
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