The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 04 October 2024 Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 10:13-16
Photo by Ms. Marissa La Torre Flores in Switzerland, August 2024.
As we celebrate today the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi in the light of our first reading from the Book of Job, You open our eyes anew O God our loving Father into your unfathomable mystery of majesty and love for us.
Like Job, we ask many questions not really because we complain to You but simply we have no one else to turn to; we have so many questions in life and we are willing to wait if ever there would be any answer at all but one thing for sure, we are certain You have all the answers.
Be patient with our many whys, O God, for we have no any reply to any of your single question "Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place...? Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me if you know all" (Job 38:12, 16-18).
Like St. Francis of Assisi, give us the grace to dare follow your Son Jesus Christ not only in humility and poverty but most especially in His Cross; forgive us, Father and let us do away with all the "sentimentality" cultivated by nature lovers including "new agers" on St. Francis' love for nature rooted in Christ's sufferings and commitment to a poor and simple life.
Like Job and St. Francis who lovingly embraced Jesus with His Cross, may we also realize our "smallness" before you, O Lord in our trials and sufferings to experience at the same time the joy and glory in comprehending the "breadth and length and height and depth" of Christ's love that surpasses knowledge so that we may be filled with your fullness, dear God (Ephesians 3:18). Amen.
Photo by Ms. Marissa La Torre Flores in Switzerland, August 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of Guardian Angels, 02 October 2024 Exodus 23:20-23 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 18:1-5, 10
Photo by author, Baguio City Cathedral, January 2019.
How good and gracious are You, God our Father in assigning a guardian angel to each one of us in order to lead us closer to You and eventually, face-to-face with You in all eternity!
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10).
Forgive us, O God, for disobeying our guardian angels so often when we choose to sin than remain in your grace; forgive us most especially when we forget we too are an angel to everyone tasked to care and look after of every one especially the children and elderly who are weak, the sick and the poor, those disadvantaged in our society that does not believe in You anymore and in angels.
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.
“See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority resides in him (Exodus 23:20-21).
Bless us, dear God to be humble always like your angels leading others from darkness into light, from ignorance into wisdom and knowledge, from bondage to sin into the grace of freedom to be more loving and faithful in serving You through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Photo by author, Fatima Avenue, Valenzuela City, December 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 September 2024 Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 9:7-9
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 9).
How lovely are your words today, God our Father: "All things are vanity", a mist, a dew, or breath that vanish quickly, no permanence, and no real value at all but because of You, everything got meaning, got value especially in the coming of Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord and Savior.
You are no longer far from us, dear God; in Jesus Christ, You have been among us, most of all within us; yet, many of us could not find you nor experience you.
Like Herod the tetrarch, so many of us have heard a lot about you, O God, in Jesus Christ but are still perplexed, refusing to believe, refusing to recognize, refusing to accept especially His Cross.
Bless us, dear Jesus, especially those who keep on trying to see you but could not find you because to see you O Lord is to forget one's self, take up one's cross, and follow You. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon & Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2024 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 <8{{{{>< + ><}}}}8> Luke 8:1-3
Photo by author in Bolinao, Pangasinan, 2022.
"And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith"....
and empty too is our life!
St. Paul's words to the Corinthians echo so well in our own time when many of us believers live as though there will be no resurrection of the dead; so many of us believers today see life limited only to this temporal world that we indulge in everything that is material and pleasing, avoiding all pains and sufferings, simply subscribing to that dictum to drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die.
Forgive us, Jesus, when we see life's fullness is found only in things and pleasures of the world that we forget the truth that life is empty without your Cross because it leads us to Resurrection each day like the sunrise; life is empty when we have more of the world and less of God whose ultimate reality is in the resurrection and life everlasting.
Grant us the grace of those holy women who followed you in your ministry, giving up everything they have especially their sinful past because in you they found and experienced resurrection; most of all, like the more than 100 martyrs of Korea whom we remember today, let us bear our cross of witnessing to you and your gospel, Jesus, so that people may realize that truly, life is most meaningful most fulfilled only in you. Amen.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Hildegard, Virgin & Doctor of Church, 17 September 2024 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompnaied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep” (Luke 7:11-13).
Today, O God our Father, you remind us of life's fragility, of life's daily crossings into a gate, a portal of death and life, of weeping and rejoicing, of absence and presence like Jesus drawing near to the gate of the city of Nain; you give us each day a chance to enter each day filled with life and joy, love and mercy of your Son Jesus Christ.
We pray most especially for widows who have lost everything: their husband, their son or daughter, their joy and meaning in life; help them cross each day's gate and portal of their daily Nain; how lovely that Jesus was moved by the widowed mother not by the dead son to be buried; many times we forget the living especially widows without realizing the unique pains and hurts they go through in losing a husband and a child.
Take care, dear Jesus, of the widows and widowers too who often cry alone, suffer in silence for their loss; visit them today with your warmth and joy to comfort them with your loving presence through their family and friends, the Church which is your Body. Through the intercession of the great mystic St. Hildegarde von Bingen, may widows and widowers experience what she had written that "The mystery of God hugs you in its all-encompassing mystery." Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 September 2024 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:33-39
Photo by author, 15 August 2024.
Thank you, our loving Father for another week about to close; thank you dear God for this first Friday in September 2024: despite the rains and the floods and the inconveniences these have brought, thank you for a new beginning today. Let us celebrate this gift of life you have given us by putting on a new attitude, a new disposition, a new outlook in life for you have made everything new in Jesus Christ.
And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be pured into fresh wineskins” (Luke 5:36-38).
Make us your trustworthy stewards of your mysteries, Lord; make us truly your servants who shall reveal your many mysteries of life and death, of joy and sufferings, of poverty and wealth, of fruitfulness and fulfillment, of redemption and forgiveness be known in our life of witnessing without any regard for fame nor popularity except that we do your work in Jesus faithfully. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 28 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 23:27-32
Commuters hang from the back of a jeepney as it travels along a road in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Glory and praise to you, God our loving Father for the gift of this great Saint, Augustine, son of St. Monica, Bishop and Teacher of the Church; in him, O God, you showed us every saint has a sinful past and that no sinner can be denied of a saintly future.
It was St. Augustine who taught us among his so many teachings that "grace builds on nature" which he must have learned from his own experiences, from his conversion to Christianity to becoming a priest then a bishop that did not happen like a magic trick by God but with hard work wrapped in intense prayers by him and St. Monica; what a tremendous blessing that as we honor him today, our first is from a letter by his inspiration, St. Paul:
For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10).
Remind us, O God in Jesus Christ like St. Augustine, what is essential is the inside not the outside; let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes, hypocrites, looking like "whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on then outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth" (Matthew 23:27).
Grant us the zeal and enthusiasm like St. Augustine to strive in becoming a better person, most of all a better Christian by working hard in cultivating the prayer life, love for the Sacred Scriptures so that Jesus may dwell always in our hearts. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Monica, Married Mother, 27 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:23-26
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Tagaytay City, 20 August 2024.
I thank you today, dear God our Father for the gift of mothers as we celebrate today the Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17).
How wonderful to find St. Monica handled her life with prayer, the most beautiful tradition the Church had always taught and passed on since its beginning; it was St. Monica's life of prayer that flowed out into the grace of patience and perseverance as well as kindness to others leading ultimately to undying hope in God's goodness in converting first her pagan husband Patricius and then their three sons led by the eldest St. Augustine.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who shed tears when we go wayward as children so lost in a life of sin, and for us aching and hurting deep inside only mothers can detect and empathize with.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who have taught us the importance of prayer and goodness to others and most especially of the value of sincerity than hypocrisy. Bless all mothers today, merciful Father, may they find comfort in Jesus always. Amen.
Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Agosto 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Sacred heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 Marso 2024.
Halina't magpahingalay hindi lamang upang mapawi pagod at hirap kungdi sarili ay mabawi sa kawalang kabuluhan at mga kaguluhan, pagkawindang mapigilan kaayusan ng buhay ay mabalikan; limang tanong sana makatulong upang landas ng makatuturang buhay ating masundan:
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Alfonso, Cavite, Abril 2024.
"Nasaan ka?"
Kay gandang balikan nang ang Diyos ay unang mangusap sa tao, ito ang kanyang tanong sa lalaking nagkasala at nagtago, "nasaan ka?" Nang maganap unang krimen, Diyos ay nagtanong din kay Cain, "nasaan kapatid mong si Abel?"
"Nasaan" lagi nating tanong lalo na't sarili ang nawawala tumutukoy di lamang sa lunan kungdi sa kalagayan at katayuan ng sarili madalas ay sablay at mabuway; magpahingalay upang tumatag at maging matiwasay.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 Hulyo 2023.
Susunod na dalawang tanong ay magkadugtong: "Saan ka pupunta?" at "Paano ka makakarating doon?"
Walang mararating at kahihinatnan sino mang hindi alam kanyang pupuntahan maski na moon na tinitingala hindi matingnan, magroadtrip broom broom man lamang! Muling mangarap libre at masarap higit sa lahat magkaroon ng layon na inaasam-asam!
Larawan kuha ni Bb. Ria De Vera sa Banff, Alberta, Canada, 07 Agosto 2024.
Nasaan ka? Saan ka pupunta? Paano ka makakarating doon? Ang mga unang tatlong tanong sa ating pamamahingalay nitong paglalakbay ng buhay; ika-apat na tanong naman dapat nating pagnilayan ay "Ano aking dadalhin sa paglalakbay?"
Marahil pinakamahalagang dalhin ang ating sarili hindi mga gamit o kasangkapan dahil kaalinsabay ng mga dalahin ay ating mga iiwanan din; huwag nang magkalat ng gamit bagkus iwanan ay bakas ng mabuting katauhan pagmamalasakit sa iba pang naglalakbay sa landas nitong buhay!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Tagaytay, 21 Agosto 2024.
Ngayo'y dumako tayo sa huling tanong nitong pagpapahingalay upang mabawi ating sarii di lamang pagod ay mapawi: "Sino iyong kasama sa paglalakbay sa buhay?"
Ito marahil pinakamahirap sagutin maski harapin dahil problema natin hindi naman mga nabigong pangarap at adhikain kungdi nasira at nawasak nating mga ugnayan bilang pamilya at magkakaibigan; may kasabihan mga African, kung ibig mong maglakbay ng mabilis, lumakad kang mag-isa ngunit kung ibig mong malayo marating, magsama ka ng kasabay sa paglalakbay.
Dito ating makikita diwa at buod ng tunay na pagpapahingalay o pagpapahinga: mula sa salitang "hinga" ang magpahinga ay mahingahan ng iba, mapuno ng iba; mauubos tayo parang upos sa dami ng ibig nating maabot at marating, huwag mag-atubiling tumigil, mamahinga, magpahingalay sa Panginoong Diyos na Siya nating buhay at kaganapan na tiyak din nating hahantungan sa walang hanggang pahingalay. Hayaang Siya sa ating umalalay at pumuno ng hininga ng buhay!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2024 Revelation 11:19;12:1-6, 10 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
Photo from shutterstock.com
Glory and praise, God Almighty Father in sending us Jesus our Savior who gave us His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very first fruit as St. Paul said of Christ's wondrous work of salvation due her oneness in Him.
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-40).
Right after the Annunciation to Mary, her path to her Assumption began when she "set out and travelled to the hill country in haste" to share Christ in her with Elizabeth; what a beautiful imagery of the same path to the Calvary, another hill outside Jerusalem to be with Christ her Son.
Bless us with the same grace You gave Mary your Mother, Lord Jesus, to follow your path to every hill in this life, to be one with those especially who are in pain and suffering; let us trust in You fully in faith, hope and love that the sufferings we may endure in setting out to travel to the hills of this life is the very path of our assumption in You; let us realize that despite the many comforts and ease of technology today, it is not what life really is, that we all have to go through your Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like Mary, may we believe your words, Jesus, will be fulfilled. Amen.
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from en.wikipedia.org.
