The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 05 July 2023
Genesis 21:5, 8-20 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 8:28-34
Photo by author, sunset at Tagaytay City, 08 February 2023.
God our loving Father,
today we continue to pray
for those in great trials and
sufferings in life,
those in the eye of the storm
especially those driven out
from their own homes,
from their country,
from their roots
like the refugees and those
fleeing from wars and calamities;
those displaced due to economic
reasons like poverty;
the victims of the inhuman practice
of human trafficking.
Take care of those people
driven away from their homes
especially the children who
always suffer most;
look after the welfare of
those thrown into foreign
lands and environment,
so alienated in language and culture;
sustain those forced to make
ends meet after being
led to somewhere else
not of their own choice
and decision.
Hear the cries of the many
and modern
Hagar and Ishmael
of our time;
bless them too for
we all came from Abraham;
punish the human traffickers,
convert them,
take away their hearts of stone
and give them natural hearts
who respect and rejoice
humanity.
Your very own Son
and our Lord Jesus Christ
was also driven out by people
after he had exorcised two demoniacs
at the territory of Gadarenes;
how sad that until now it continues
to happen among us when we drive
people out and away because we
value more things and animals than persons.
The whole planet,
the whole land is yours,
O Lord but until now,
so many are lording over
vast tracts of land
when all we really need
at the end is a simple plot
of three-and-a-half feet wide
by eight feet in length,
six feet under.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 04 July 2023
Genesis 19:15-29 <*(((>< <*(((>< + ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 8:23-27
Photo by author, November 2020.
Your words today, O God
our Father, are all about
chaos and destruction,
storms and calamities
in the sea and the land;
just like so many of us these days
who are in the "eye of the storm",
in the midst of great trials
and sufferings in life
due to their own making
or somebody else's sins and
wrongdoing, or simply
being in the wrong place
at the wrong time.
The whole world is yours,
O Lord; you have the whole world
in your hands and you know
everything that is happening.
Grant us the trust and confidence
in you of Jesus your Son
and the deep faith of Abraham
as you kept your promise to save
his nephew Lot and family
from the catastrophe that fell on
Sodom and Gomorrah.
As Jesus got into a boat, is disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves but he was asleep.
Matthew 8:23-24
When he (Lot) hesitated, the men, by the Lord’s mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughter and led them to safety outside the city.
Genesis 19:16
Keep us strong, O God,
in the face of trials and tribulations of life;
calamities inevitably happen,
it is how we face and deal with these
that truly matter;
cleanse us of our impurities,
of our stubbornness,
of our sins,
never to needlessly look back
like Lot's wife but instead move
forward in life learning your important
lessons of being morally upright and holy.
Amen.
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
In this season of graduations when we also celebrate today the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, we are reminded that growth and maturity in Christian faith goes through a process too of “graduation”.
St. Thomas went through different stages in life as a disciple of Christ before finally graduating with honors as a martyr. Most of all, he is a good model for every graduating student to emulate because he is the one so famous for having “doubts” and being known as the “doubting Thomas”.
To doubt is not necessarily bad. In fact, it is a grace from God because every doubt is a step closer to wisdom and knowledge. Without doubts, we can never learn because we will never be able to verify and validate what we know if we do not doubt at all. We shall discuss this further as we reflect on the three graduation events in the life of St. Thomas the Apostle.
His first graduation happened when the Lord’s best friend, Lazarus, died.
“The Raising of Lazarus”, 1311 painting by Duccio de Buoninsegna. Photo by commons.wikimedia.org
Recall how Jesus and his Apostles were prevented from visiting Lazarus when he was seriously ill because he lived with his sisters Marth and Mary in the town of Bethany that was near Jerusalem where the Lord’s enemies were plotting to arrest and put him to death. It was too risky for Jesus to go to Bethany but, because of his love for Lazarus and his sisters, Jesus decided to take the risk to visit him.
It was St. Thomas who rallied his fellow apostles to come with the Lord to share in his death.
So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”
John 11:14-16
A good student is always a risk-taker. All graduating students since 2021 to present deserve a great commendation, a great congratulations for taking all the risks and difficulties in pursuing your studies in these four years of the pandemic. Despite the poor internet connections, the threats of viral infections and many other risks, you forged on and now you are a step closer in fulfilling your dreams.
The key here is to never be away from Jesus like St. Thomas who at that early stage had identified himself with the destiny of Christ in offering himself on the Cross. St. Thomas knew it then that nothing is easy in this life but if we are with the Lord, there is nothing we cannot overcome.
Graduation as a process or a passing through stages is also a passover, a pasch like the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Recall the gospel the other Sunday when Jesus told his Apostles to fear no one, to be not afraid. The same thing is what St. Thomas is reminding us today: do not be afraid to learn, to commit mistakes, to doubt, to fail, to get hurt. These little deaths are all part of our process of growing and maturing, of getting better, of being achievers.
The second graduation moment of St. Thomas happened during their Last Supper when the Lord was telling them of his coming death that would lead to his Resurrection and return to the Father’s house where he would prepare a room for them.
“Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:4-6
Imagine the somber and serious mood of the Last Supper, of Jesus telling everyone of his coming pasch. Then suddenly, there was St. Thomas interjecting with a statement “we do not know where you are going” with a question, “how can we know the way?”
Notice the comedy twist? Funny indeed and truly, we could see St. Thomas in a low level of understanding but if he never dared to ask that question, we would never have that most quotable quote of the Lord of him being “the way and the truth and the life.”
Here, St. Thomas is teaching us to always ask for explanations, even from the Lord himself! As RiteMed would say in its commercials, “Huwag mahihiyang magtanong”!
Photo by Mr. Paulo Sillonar, 07 June 2023.
In telling St. Thomas – and us – that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, the Lord is reminding us how it is forever valid that true learning is gained from our dealing and relating with persons, with people, not with things like gadgets. Or even pet animals nor plants.
As you go on your school break after your graduation, spend more time with people, with your parents, with your brothers and sisters and cousins. Or playmates. Leave your gadgets and pets behind. Go out and play, bond with people. Get real and stop those virtual realities.
Very often, the teachers we truly love or like and appreciate impact are those who have gone out of their ways to reach out to us, to relate with us. They were the teachers really deserving to be called mentors who not only taught us with so many knowledge and information and techniques but most of all, the ones who have made us experience life, the ones who have opened our minds and hearts to realities of life, showing us the relationships between the classroom and actual life.
Jesus is more than a teaching or a doctrine or a lesson. Jesus is a person we relate with, we experience life with, we live with through people he sends us in the family and in the school. And we learn most in life with them.
Do not be afraid to approach and ask them for explanations, directions, and clarifications. Google nor ChatGPT can never teach you life. St. Thomas must have learned so much from that simple table incident in their Last Supper that even if at first he doubted Christ had risen, he eventually made the boldest expression of faith in Jesus when they finally met on the eighth day of Easter, his final graduation.
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:27-29
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
Many times, our doubts lead us to more brighter outcome than any uncertainty we may have before like St. Thomas. If St. Thomas did not believe at all that Jesus had risen, he would have not come to the Upper Room to be with the other Apostles to meet Jesus the following Sunday. He believed, though, there were some doubts that were natural. After all, the Resurrection of Jesus was beyond normal, beyond logic. It was truly astounding.
After a long series of stages, here we find St. Thomas making the boldest and strongest expression of faith ever which we silently pray every consecration period in the Mass, “my Lord and my God.”
Dear students, be a man of prayer, be a woman of prayer.
Persevere in deepening your faith despite the many difficulties and challenges being posed today by modern culture characterized by relativism and individualism, materialism and consumerism. St. Mother Teresa said it well, “We are called to be faithful, not successful”. The recent dark days of the pandemic have shown that science will never be enough in this world, in this life. There is God. And the good news is he is not that far from us. He is the one calling us to believe even if we have not seen him. If the world says to see is to believe, that if there are no pictures it did not happen at all, Jesus is telling us today in the experience of St. Thomas that when you believe, then you shall see!
Let us imitate St. Thomas, a student who studied hard, worked harder, and prayed hardest to Jesus who never abandoned him especially in his doubts and weaknesses. May the example of St. Thomas strengthen our faith in Jesus who is our Lord and God. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, 05 July 2023
Ephesians 2:19-22 <*((((>< +++ ><))))*> John 20:24-29
Caravaggio’s painting “The Incredulity of St. Thomas” (1602) from en.wikipedia.org.
Praise and glory
to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for always believing in us,
coming to us,
calling us to follow you
despite our doubts and weaknesses
like St. Thomas the Apostle.
Most of all,
thank you dear Lord Jesus
for blessing us who have not
seen you and yet believed in you!
Jesus said to him (Thomas), “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:29
Let me follow you,
Jesus, for you are "the Way,
the Truth and the Life"
as you have told St. Thomas
at your Last Supper;
like St. Thomas,
comfort me with your presence
and understanding in times of
insecurities when pains and
disappointments make me doubt;
like St. Thomas,
give me the courage to conquer
my many doubts in life
and lead them to outcomes
brighter than any uncertainties
I often fear needlessly;
like St. Thomas,
let me persevere
despite the difficulties
of deepening my faith in you
by keeping me close to you,
"my Lord and my God".
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 02 July 2023
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 ><}}}}*> Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 ><}}}}*> Matthew 10:37-42
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University-Quezon City with the La Mesa Dam Forest Reserve at the back, 01 July 2023.
Jesus continues to instruct the Twelve with important lessons on discipleship as he sent them on their first mission the other week. Last Sunday he taught them – including us today – to face all fears not to be fearless of anything or anyone but to fear only God.
Today, Jesus cautions us not to be unduly influenced by people especially those closest to us in fulfilling our mission in him. Very often, intimidation and influence can be used to adversely affect our ministry that eventually veer us away from our Lord Jesus Christ in the process. Hence, his encouragement too for us to persevere through those influences as we follow him.
Jesus said to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:37-39
James J. Tissot, ‘The Exhortation to the Apostles’ (1886-94) from Getty Images.
Being a Christian is being possessed by Christ. That is why he told us last week to “be not afraid of those who kill the body but not the soul” so that we fear only him our Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that we lose all meaning in life without him.
To be possessed by Jesus Christ is to have a life centered in him, detached from undue influences including from our family and friends especially us priests and religious. When priests focus more with self and family or with other people instead of Jesus Christ, everything crumbles – pati sutana nalaglag na! That is when priesthood becomes a career and a means for social mobility and livelihood with money as the priest’s new “lord and master”.
Priesthood is Jesus Christ, the Caller, not the call as I have always insisted to seminarians I teach and direct. Problems happen when the Caller is dislodged from the top spot and focus shifts on the call or priesthood when priests literally and figuratively throw their weight around when we hear the notorious lines “matutulog ang pari, pagod and pari, unawain ang pari”.
Photo by Ka Ruben, National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, August 2022.
Discipleship in general of which the priesthood is just a part is indeed a very difficult life. Nobody said it would be easy as the opening instructions of Jesus to the Twelve clearly stated, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”
Jesus is not asking us to disregard our family and friends. What Jesus is telling us is actually a warning against too much expectations that our family and friends would love and embrace him too inasmuch as we have given ourselves to him. Not true at all, sad to say.
There are times that those closest to us are the ones who could not accept Jesus Christ’s call of discipleship. There are times that the most difficult people to be catechized and evangelized are those dearest to us.
Many of us must have felt in many instances how our family or friends are the ones who reject the ways of Jesus, the values of Christ. In this highly competitive world so exaggerated by the social media when everyone feels so entitled and deserving for everything, people have become so impersonal in dealing with each other, forgetting the basic courtesies in life, especially respect and kindness. Many are blinded by fame and wealth forgetting God and the people around them.
Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.
This Sunday, Jesus is teaching us to always have him as the basis and foundation of our relationships. Remember the gospel two Sundays ago when upon seeing the crowds Jesus was “moved with pity because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd” that he taught us to pray for more workers in the harvest (Mt.9:36-37). The problems in the world can never be solved by money and any material thing but only by another person, by someone with the heart and face of Christ filled with his warmth and his loving presence, someone not afraid to love, not afraid to get hurt, not influenced by fads and trends or by what others say.
Everything in this life, in our ministry and in our discipleship has to be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. Things become cloudy or dull and shady when Jesus is absent that can greatly affect, for better or for worse, our relationships with one another. This we see in the first reading about the hospitality offered by that Shumenite woman to Elisha the prophet whom she recognized as a man of God. Elisha clearly saw the woman’s basis of hospitality – God – that he never abused it. In fact, we find a trace of humor when Elisha had to ask his servant what their graceful hostess most needed to reward her hospitality. Sometimes like Elisha in our being so focused in serving the Lord, we become so ignorant of the most obvious with those closest to us; imagine Elisha asking his servant what to reward the Shumenite woman, his seeming oblivious to the fact she and husband were childless! Eventually, Elisha would grant the couple the gift of a son whom he would later bring back to life.
At my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood with friends from UST’s the Varsitarian, 18 April 2023.
To be possessed by Christ means to be “dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus” as St. Paul explained in our second reading today (Rom.6:11). For some it may sound foolish but that is the reality and mystery of life we have been reflecting since the resumption of Ordinary Time last month. It is what we call as Christian paradox when in our sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery of his suffering and death, that is also when we find and experience our resurrection and life.
Last Monday, a very dear friend died, Sr. Gina of the Religious of Good Shepherd. We met in 1984 when I joined UST’s the Varsitarian where she was an outgoing staff member. She was the one who proclaimed the first reading at my celebration of my 25th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood last April 18.
Photo by author, Chapel of the RGS Mother House in Quezon City, 29 June 2023.
When I first invited her to my anniversary, she declined due to a big retreat of priests at their spirituality center in Tagaytay; within a few hours, she texted me back and told me she would fix her schedule so she could come to my anniversary celebration. She later texted me twice to insist she had to be present at my silver anniversary.
Unknown to us all, her cancer had recurred and metastasized last November which we learned only June 28 when the RGS Sisters issued a health bulletin about her condition. Sr. Gina had decided to stop all medications to wait for the inevitable at their mother house in Quezon City two weeks earlier. June 29 she texted me to inform me of her condition. I was so happy to chat a few lines with her, asking her if I could visit her this week.
She never replied.
When I learned her condition the other Wednesday night, I cried as I realized the very reason why she insisted on coming to my anniversary in April: to remind me we are possessed by Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus. Please pray for her beautiful soul. Thank you and God bless!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of the First Martyrs of Rome, 30 June 2023
Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 8:1-4
Photo by author, sunrise at Bolinao, Pangasinan 18 April 2022.
Today we close the month of June,
the first half of 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father
for past six months,
grateful for the next
six months coming
to finally close the year.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Matthew 8:2-3
Dear Father, you will only good things for us like to that leper that is why you sent us your Son Jesus Christ; both Jesus and the leper knew his cleansing was very possible; Jesus made no fanfare except in asking the leper to fulfill the requirements of the Law as the leper simply believed him.
Lord, we are a "walking good news", ourselves a blessing, a grace from you; there is no need for us in trying so hard in touching another person, in making a difference in this world so sick and so stressed; many times we just have to smile and be extra nice to someone, be kind and forgiving.
Let us share your good news in the way we live, at least not like the first martyrs of Rome who were burned as living torches at evening banquets; let us share your good news like Abraham who walked in your presence blamelessly by trusting you, obeying you, loving you. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter & Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2023
Acts 12:1-11 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 ><}}}}*> Matthew 16:13-19
The lithography of Sts. Peter and Paul in Missale Romanum by unknown artist with initials F.M.S (19. cent.) printed by Typis Friderici Pustet. (Renáta Sedmáková | us.fotolia.com)
Praise and glory to you,
Lord Jesus Christ
for this Solemnity of your
two great Apostles,
Sts. Peter and Paul
whom you have both
chosen to be the solid rock
on which your Church is built,
remaining forever her
protectors and guides;
to them Rome owes her greatness
when you, O Lord, led them to
sanctify that capital of the
ancient Empire
with their martyrdom
to become the center of
the Christian world
until now.
In their great efforts
of fulfilling your mission,
there emerged a most unique
even unlikely partnership
in making you known,
O Lord, teaching us
that important lesson
that discipleship is always
being together with others
being sent on a mission,
never alone nor simply a case
of "me and Jesus"
as we would always
insist.
Teach us, dear Jesus,
to be like Sts. Peter and Paul
focused only in you to overcome
our many differences in the Church;
help us to set aside
our biases and prejudices
to always find you
as the very essence
of our discipleship;
may we learn to
respect each other
by finding you in
each co-worker
and with everyone
we serve and meet.
May our lives
mirror your true person,
Lord Jesus,
so that people are not
misled to who
you really are.
How inspiring
that both Sts. Peter and Paul
were imprisoned for preaching
your name and yet,
no bars nor chains not
even death held them captives
in spreading your good news;
in fact, some of the finest
parts of the New Testament
were composed when both
Apostles were in prison;
what a grace for us today
their many letters
still sound
so true and relevant,
providing us compass
in charting our ways
in a world so divided
and so sick with
individualism, relativism,
and materialism.
Help us, dear Jesus,
to break free from
the many prisons
that hold us from freely
witnessing your loving service
for others like Sts. Peter
and Paul; set us free, Lord,
from the chains that hold us
and make us fearful
of standing by our faith
and of your teachings
in this time of total disrespect
for life; most of all, free us, O Lord,
like St. Peter from our prison cells
of indifference in the face of
continued erosion of
marriage and family
as envisioned by God
since creation.
Dear Jesus,
make us realize
that every present moment
is the time of our departure;
may we live fully at your service
by keeping the faith in you
like Sts. Peter and Paul.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop & Martyr, 28 June 2023
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 7:15-20
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you very much,
God our loving Father
for the grace of believing,
the beginning of everything
like what Abram experienced
in the first reading today,
"Abram put his faith in the Lord,
who credited it to him as an act
of righteousness" (Gen.15:6).
Only you, O Lord,
would know
what was going inside
the mind and heart
of Abram at that time
when he instantly believed and
trusted in your promise despite
his many questions and clarifications;
later on, St. Paul and St. James
including the author of the Letter
to the Hebrews would cite this
beautiful account of Abram's
humble submission to you,
O God, as a model of faith
and believing in you.
Perhaps, Lord, the problem
with us is that we believe in
everything,
in everyone:
we profess to believe in
you, O God,
the Father almighty
and yet we also believe
in luck,
in occults,
and in so many other things
and persons and yes,
powers and spirits;
we believe in you
but do not
trust you completely;
many times we believe
in what or who would
accommodates us,
pleases us,
and go for us.
Teach us, dear Jesus,
like Abram and St. Irenaeus
who offered his life by standing
on what he truly believed in you;
keep us simple, Jesus,
in looking at the fruits
as the unmistakable proof
of believing in you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop & Doctor of Church, 27 June 2023
Genesis 13:2, 5-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> Matthew 7:6, 12-14
Photo by author, the narrow door into the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, the Holy Land, 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ,
teach us to be generous
by choosing to enter
through the narrow gate
that leads to life (Mt. 7:13);
let us realize that generosity
is choosing which is more
difficult, which is less,
forgetting one's self
in order to give others better
chances,
better choices,
better portions.
Like Abraham
in today's first reading,
generosity is being able
to give the best freely
when we completely trust
God's generosity;
God promised to bless
Abraham more abundantly
not only with wealth but
most of all of being the father
of all nations with descendants
more than the dust of earth
after Lot had chosen
the plains of Jordan with
its abundant water
not realizing the wicked
inhabitants of Sodom.
Above all,
generosity is thinking more
of persons than objects
like when Abraham felt the
need for him and Lot to part
ways lest their slaves
quarrel.
Remind us, dear Jesus,
to be always generous
not only with our goods
but most of all with
persons because
we can only find you
and fulfillment
in others we
consider as
brothers and sisters
in you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 26 June 2023
Genesis 12:1-9 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 7:1-5
Photo by author, Sonnen Berg, Davao City, August 2018.
Another month soon to close,
another month soon to open
at the end of this week;
thank you very much, God
our loving Father for the wonderful
journey in life.
Continue to call us,
continue to lead us
to new directions,
to new challenges
to new stages in life
to newer selves.
Like Abraham,
teach us to leave
our comfort zones,
teach us to trust in you,
teach us to realize we are
never too old to move out
and grow; most of all,
teach us to chill,
to slow down, to stop rushing
and worrying in life.
Make us move in "stages", Lord,
like Abraham for you are the
first to know who we are,
where we are,
and how we are.
The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.
Genesis 12:1,9
Let us follow Jesus,
"the way and the truth
and the life" in this journey
in life in whatever stages
we may be;
may we stop judging
so we may not be judged
and simply enjoy this
journey in life
in whatever stage
we may be.
Amen.
*Since last night after praying for today's readings, I was struck by that passage of Abram journeyed by "stages" that instantly reminded me of David Benoit's 1982 album and single, "Stages". Blessed Monday!
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