Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 19 November 2025 Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28
Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.
What a lovely phrase, dear Jesus for today for us all especially mothers and all women: "womanly heart, manly courage."
At this time when a wayward daughter and sister viciously attacks her own brother in total disregard of our family values and tradition, not to mention the need for decency and respect as well as a little sanity too, here comes out in the open the nobility of many women and mothers as well as men still intact; in this time like during the Maccabean Revolt when many sold their souls to evil for the price of comfort and ease, there are still more like that mother who dare to go against the tide of insanity and folly, indecency and disrespect, most of all, of idolatrous worship through religious leaders of the many sects and cults who use God's name in vain and shameful profit too.
Keep us strong inside, Jesus, to be not afraid in venturing into finding ways of serving you most than being idle in keeping your gifts and talents; teach us anew the virtue of obedience, of docility to authority whether at home and family or in the society in general and in other civil institutions.
Lastly, we pray dear Jesus for all mothers crying in silence these days for the many pains they bear inside their hearts especially those who have lost a child, those betrayed by their own husband or children, those separated from their families due to work and employment, those nursing a sick loved one, those forgotten even by families and societies; grant them a "womanly heart" filled with faith in God and a "manly courage" trusting in you alone. Amen.
Now more than ever, we are proven right: the past administration is the most decadent in our history with its utter lack of respect for life and for women; that its war on drugs was totally a lie. May they “who have contrived every kind of affliction not escape the hands of God” (2 Maccabees 7:31).
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 22 October 2025 Wednesday, Memorial of St. John Paul II, Pope Romans 6:12-18 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 12:39-48
God our loving Father, thank you for the unique grace of having lived during the pontificate of St. John Paul II: what a tremendous blessing from you to grace us with St. John Paul II as our Pope who had overcome so many difficulties and struggles in life personally by being orphaned at a very young age from his mother then from his father and later from his only beloved brother, not to mention his coming from Poland, a country exploited by foreign powers and subjected to communism for the longest time.
In his entire life, Lord, you have always shown your loving presence in him and destined him to be your sign in this most difficult period in history when men and women gravely challenged you with so many evil and sins, including by some priests you have called to serve.
St. John Paul II showed us in his life consistent with his teachings and writings the need for us to be your slave of righteousness, a slave of love and goodness, a slave of Christ:
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have becomes slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:16-18).
Let us grow in obedience to you, Jesus like your great Pope, St. John Paul II who lived and served us with great examples of his life waging war against the many evils of our time, standing for what is true and good, your voice in this wilderness, telling us to "be not afraid" to love and serve the weakest among us while awaiting your return like in your parable today. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 07 August 2025 Wednesday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I Numbers 20:1-13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 16:13-23
Lord Jesus Christ, today I pray for the grace and virtue of listening especially in this world so filled with noise with everyone and everything speaking even machines like cars and elevators and phones; how sad that photos about listening are images of headphones and ear pods that are not totally about listening which is more than hearing the sound but also hearing the silence. That is why listening is a virtue, a grace, and an art. Why, even prayer is listening! And that is what we must pray more these days that we learn to listen more in order to truly pray, hear your voice in silence.
The responsorial psalm says it so well this day, "Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Matthew 16:13-17).
You always ask us, Jesus and we can easily answer you when it concerns other people but when you ask us personally, when your question is addressed as "YOU" - we rarely can answer because we do not listen both to you and to ourselves.
Without listening, we cannot answer and follow you, Lord; without listening, we cannot obey you, Lord; without listening, we cannot stay and and remain in you, Lord.
Yesterday in the Feast of the Transfiguration, the voice of the Father was clearly heard, telling us to listen to you, O Lord Jesus, his Chosen Son (Luke 9:35) and we still do not listen.
A 1311 painting of the Transfiguration by Italian artist Duccio di Buoninsegna from commons.wikimedia.org.
Why was only Peter able to answer your question? Maybe because he was the only one who truly listened and understood your question, Lord; and maybe, he was the only one who truly listened and heard the answer from the Father.
Even Moses refused to listen
to you, Lord when he struck twice
the rock at Meribah for water
contrary to your command that cost
his denial of entrance into the
Promised Land;
forgive us, Jesus
for the many times we
have refused to listen
and failed to faithfully
do your work in the way
you want it be done;
forgive us, Jesus,
in listening more
to the ways of the world
than to the ways of God.
Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Simbang Gabi-3 Homily, 18 December 2024 Jeremiah 23:5-8 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 1:18-25
Photo from panmacmillan.com
For those looking for a great gift this Christmas, whether for others or for yourself, I strongly recommend a copy of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. If you can afford, get its four other sequels too!
Written by the Japanese Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Before the Coffee Gets Cold and its sequels is a collection of stories about “time travel” set in a Tokyo cafe with a funny name that is actually the title of 1921 Italian opera song, Funiculi Funicula that means “A Merry Life”. It is very appealing because we all have dreamt or wished of travelling in time with its crucial question – who is that one person you would like to meet in the past or future?
There are many rules to follow for anyone wishing to travel time in the Tokyo cafe like you can only time travel with someone who had been there; you sit only at one particular table inside the small cafe; you may go back to the past or even go to the future but you cannot change them as it would adversely affect the present; and most of all, you have to drink the coffee before it gets cold to return to the present.
The novel is aptly titled Before the Coffee Gets Cold because anyone wishing to travel time, whether in the past or future, one has to drink and swallow all bitterness (coffee) we have in life in order to find fulfillment in the present and future.
Is it not funny that in life and in fantasy like time travel, we are governed by rules as well as commandments? Many times most of us disregard them while some almost worshipped them like the Jews of biblical times, except Joseph.
From vaticannews.va.
After establishing the fact that Jesus Christ is from the lineage of the two greatest personages of the Old Testament, Abraham and David, Matthew logically placed next to his genealogy the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Lord by solemnly declaring, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about (Mt.1:18).”
Notice how Matthew not only stressed Joseph as “the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ (Mt.1:16)” to indicate his royal blood from the lineage of King David but as a true blooded Jew for he was “a righteous man (Mt.1:19).”
In the Bible, a “righteous man” or a “just man” is a “holy man” called a zaddik in Hebrew, one who lives his life according to the sacred Scriptures as word of God, delighting in His laws and commandments, and entrusting everything to the Divine will.
Joseph was exactly that kind of Jewish “zaddik” who lived in constant dialogue with God in His words, concretely living it out minus the legalisms of Pharisees and scribes. For Joseph, the Torah was a “good news” meant to make life better not bitter that it was not difficult for him to choose to leave Mary silently so as to spare her of all the shame and trouble in bearing a child not his if he went by their laws. Eventually after the angel had appeared to him in a dream to explain the virginal conception by Mary, “When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Mt.1:24).”
Matthew is teaching us that to be holy like Joseph, we have to make that important decision of bridging our faith with our life, of being obedient to God. Obedience literally in Latin means “to listen intently”; in being open to God’s words and will, Joseph listened intently that he was able to obey and follow God. It required a lot of listening and humility on Joseph’s part to set aside his plans and let God’s will prevail. That early, Joseph realized that for him to accept God in Jesus, he had to take Mary as his wife. And here lies Joseph’s greatness: in taking Mary as his wife as told by the angel, Jesus Christ was born and we have Christmas to celebrate!
Photo by author, March 2024.
As a true blooded Jewish man, Joseph knew all the rules and commandments and lived by them but never in absolute terms especially when they superseded persons. Later, Jesus would insist to His detractors that “the sabbath was created for man not man for sabbath.” Joseph as a righteous man did exactly that when he took Mary as wife and became the Lord’s “foster father” on earth. There was a clear application in life whatever was in the heart and mind of Joseph as he walked his talk (or silence).
Joseph’s holiness in the real sense is best expressed in his ability to sleep soundly in the midst of great crises as he completely trusted God. There were four instances that the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream with important messages from God: first was here in the annunciation of Christ’s birth; then, when he was told to flee to Egypt with Mary and Baby Jesus to escape Herod’s wrath; third, when he was told to return to Israel after Herod’s death, and fourth when he was told to raise Jesus in Mary’s town of Nazareth in fulfillment of the prophecy “he shall be called a Nazorean.”
Joseph was always asleep because he completely trusted God whenever he made decisions in life. He never dilly-dallied with important decisions unlike us who could not firm up our decisions that is why we are restless, could not sleep at all. In the first reading we heard the prophecy of the coming of Christ who shall be called “the Lord our justice (Jer.22:6)” because like Joseph, Jesus would entrust Himself completely to God’s will when He died on the Cross for us.
Photo by author, December 2023.
Sleeping and dying are similar in the closing of our eyes when we entrust ourselves to God completely without knowing what shall happen next if we would still wake up or, in the case of death, rise again.
When we sleep, we travel through time in our dreams, in our hopes and aspirations in the future, and in the pains of the past. We submit them all to God as we sleep hoping for His surprises upon waking up. Christmas happens and Jesus comes to us when like Joseph we abandon everything to God and go to sleep to be ready and prepared for new, unexpected, and even incredible things the following morning. So, face your problems and issues squarely before going to bed, pray and then decide like Joseph and be surprised by the Lord, whether in your dream or upon waking up.
One of the stories in Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about an accomplished Japanese career woman; she asked to travel to her past when her younger boyfriend dated her in the cafe before leaving for the US. The woman was so sad as she felt discarded by her boyfriend in favor of a career in the the States. When she finally travelled in time, she kept her mouth shut unlike in their last meeting; lo, and behold, it was only then she “heard” her boyfriend asking her to wait for him after three years. She never listened to her boyfriend during their last meeting, oblivious to his request that she wait for him after three years when he comes back to get married with her! Everything changed when she returned to the present: without changing the past, she could still change the future in her favor as she happily awaited her boyfriend’s return.
When we are open to God in Jesus, we can also “travel time” in Him for He is eternal, to listen intently to Him as we revisit our past with all its mistakes and sins or peek into the future with all of its fears and uncertainties or simply remain in the present moment with all the problems and trials we grapple. That’s when we admit and swallow the bitterness we have and surprisingly find Jesus Christ in our present, past and future always loving us, calling us, speaking to us. Do we listen to Him and to those around us or, are we so bound by rules and our own prejudices? Amen. Have a blessed day!
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 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 Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, 01 May 2024 Colossians 3:14-15, 17, 23-24 >>> + <<< Matthew 13:54-58
“Childhood of Christ” painting by Gerard von Honthorst, franciscanmedia.org.
Praise and glory to You, God our Father in entrusting Your Son Jesus Christ to the most noble and holiest of men, St. Joseph who came from the lineage of King David.
Though he never spoke a word in the Gospel, St. Joseph's obedience in doing everything as You had commanded him (Mt. 1:24) proved his being a model disciple too of Jesus like his wife, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On this first day of May when we celebrate his memorial as St. Joseph the Worker, our beloved Patron shows us how family life is so sacred as part of Your Divine plan, O gracious Father in heaven.
St. Joseph worked as a carpenter, a provider to the Holy Family who must have also experienced every dad's problem of never making enough for Mary and Jesus; most likely, the Holy Family he headed did not live a perfect idyllic life, living through scandals and gossips as our gospel today showed when the people of Nazareth rejected the adult Jesus Christ, taking offense at him by asking, "Is he not the carpenter's son?" (Mt. 13:55, 57).
Photo by author, site of St. Joseph’s carpentry shop beneath St. Joseph’s Church in Nazareth, Israel, May 2017.
Dear God, grant us the same grace You gave St. Joseph who lived through scandal and gossip in a righteous way, just like what St. Paul had told us in the first reading, "And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection"; help us to be like St. Joseph who "let the peace of Christ controlled his heart" (Col.3:14-15) in everything to show us that holiness in life is not a poster card but one lived in the ambiguity and complexity of this world rooted in Jesus our Lord. Amen.
St. Joseph, Protector of the Child Jesus and Mary, Pray for us!
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 January 2024 1 Samuel 15:16-23 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 2:18-22
Photo by author, 2019.
God our Father, teach me to be innovative in witnessing you, in proclaiming you, in making you present in this fast changing world but at the same time still rooted in you, obedient to you; how sad that in our Church today with so many efforts in the guise of "creativity" that led only to empty novelties pretending to be attuned with the time, many have slowly desecrated our liturgy, our celebrations and worst, put into question the relevance of our long held beliefs and teachings on faith and morals; while we have to embrace change happening in the world and in the Church, may we not forget it is YOU, dear Lord, whom we seek, whom we desire, whom we aspire not the social influencers nor rock stars nor any celebrities; teach us to innovate in our ways that are still rooted in you and your precepts not with technology nor with new thoughts; may we learn to understand your Son Jesus Christ's words in today's gospel:
“No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22
Forgive us, dear God, for all the novelties we have brought even into our worship and teachings that have detached us more from you and one another; instead of fostering openness and inclusivity, the opposite had happened because to win more people is first of all to remain faithful and obedient to you which King Saul of Israel had forgotten:
But Samuel said: ”Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:23
This New Year, lead us back to you, God, through our leaders in the Church who are faithful to you in prayers, in liturgy, in teachings; innovative like Jesus Christ who fulfilled your Laws of Old in the New settings. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Advent, 15 December 2023 Isaiah 48:17-19 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:16-19
Photo by author, Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga, November 2022.
How funny, O God, at this Season of Advent we listen to every Christmas carol over and over again and yet miss your Son Jesus Christ in the end?
Everyone loves the tune and the voice of Bing Crosby singing "Do you hear what I hear?" yet we refuse to listen to the Child born on that first Christmas day!
Jesus said to the crowds: ”To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
Matthew 11:16-19
Dear Jesus, please open our ears and our hearts to truly LISTEN to you, to HEAR you and follow you; forgive us for listening only to us, for hearing more the noise of the world than your voice right there in our hearts; let us listen to you, Lord, once and for all to experience "prosperity like a river, vindication like the waves of the sea" (Isaiah 48:18); harden not our hearts to follow you and imbibe your words in our lives. 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 Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.
God our loving Father, we praise and thank you on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception for continuing to do your wondrous works for our salvation, for our healing for our good.
You are so kind to us, Father, despite our sins and turning away from you, you search us, you call us, most of all, you still bless us with your merciful presence in Jesus Christ.
Teach us to be like Mary, our Blessed Virgin Mother, to be open always to your coming, to your calls, to your grace; teach us most of all to be selfless, to be kind too to your boundless kindness, O God; many times, we are like Adam and Eve with so many alibis, always hiding from you, evading you, not trusting you.
Teach us, O Lord, to imitate Mary to not seek so many reasons and explanations, to simply trust in you and say YES to your will and plans always; may we always keep in mind like Mary, your sublime kindness O God of always inviting us, asking us, never imposing on us to freely choose him and make Christmas possible every day. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, 15 November 2023
Wisdom 6:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by author, Jesuit Cemetery, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 21 March 2023.
Thank you dear God
for the gift of authority,
a share in your authority
to govern other people regardless
if they are a few or a handful of
loosely organized people like
family and friends
or a large number of subjects
in our work or organization,
community and the Church,
and the whole nation.
But most especially,
we pray for our civil and
Church people of authority
to heed your counsel:
To you therefore O princes are my words addressed that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin. For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy, and those learned in them will have ready a response. Desire therefore my words; long for them and you shall be instructed.
Wisdom 6:9-11
You have sent us your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ as the
perfect example of authority figure,
who spoke with authority during his time
because his authority is a sharing
in your authority, Father,
an expression of his perfect
obedience to you;
let us realize that every authority
must be lived in total obedience
to you, O God, like Jesus.
When authority is lived in obedience,
those in authority become humble,
getting closer to their subjects
especially those in the margins
like the weak and the sick;
the Samaritan leper was the only one
who returned to Jesus to thank him
because not only because
he was the least of the ten
lepers being an outsider;
but, most of all, he humbly
and gratefully returned to thank Jesus
because he lived his obedience with
authority, Jesus whom he called Master.
Like St. Albert the Great
whose feast we celebrate today,
patron of scientists and a man
of learning and wisdom who held
great authority in his Order
and in the Church in Germany
during his time, may we always
live our authority in obedience
and live obedience with authority
to lead us all into humility
like Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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