Category: Opening to God/Openness

When we are lost, then found

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 April 2023
Photo by author, 08 February 2023, Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.
We all know 
that feeling happening
more often lately
a foreboding of senility?
when we go like crazy
why can't we see suddenly
some things we have
held or kept momentarily
until we sound the alarm
and call everyone
to join in the search
but still nowhere to be found.
It could be the key
or the glasses or the phone
that in exasperation
we say begone
only to make us
forlorn figures
in our own home
or tiny room
but sometimes too soon
other times would take
too long, our lost 
things are suddenly found!
Is it part of the riddle
of that black hole they call
when missing things
suddenly appear
without being sought
much less thought?
But here is the thrill:
when things even persons
are missing,
are we not the ones 
who are lost
and waiting to be found?
More than the
naked shouts of eureka
is our profound joy
when missing things
even persons suddenly
appear because the truth
is, we were the ones lost
and could not be found
in our cluttered minds
and hearts shut and closed
by our fears and doubts, 
anxieties and insecurities.
In this life
far wider than the world
where planes still go missing
amid modern technologies
and endless searching,
could it be that we are 
missing our bearings
as beings, forgetting 
God and others when we are
lost to our own beliefs or
locked in our small world
of lies and prejudice?
To find those missing 
persons or things dear to us
it might help if we first lose
whatever is holding us
for the world is so wide
for anyone or anything 
to just disappear 
they surely must be here
awaiting for our hearts 
to be clear until we hear
that sweet voice
giving us peace within.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 

John 20:19-20
Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com

Powerful prayer

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Easter, 17 April 2023
Acts 4:23-31   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   John 3:1-8
Photo by author, sunrise at Bolinao, Pangasinan, 18 April 2022. 
When is a prayer powerful,
Lord Jesus Christ?

Many times in prayer,
I shake and tremble in fear;
afraid of what would happen
next, if things would work out
in my favor or not.

Many times in prayer,
I rationalize, not really
understanding your words
like Nicodemus.

Many times in prayer,
Lord, I remain here below
on earth, could not level up
with you, of being above,
of being born again.

How I wish I could pray
like Peter and John with your
early followers after their 
release from prison!

And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:24, 29-31
How beautiful was that scene, Lord:
your followers were of one accord,
praying for courage and boldness,
most especially for "healing"
of your people as many continued
to resist change;
and the place "shook" while they
were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Let us not be shaken by events, Lord;
shake our world and fill us with your
Holy Spirit to heal each one.  Amen.

Lent is submission to God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the First Week of Lent, 02 March 2023
Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25   > + + + <   Matthew 7:7-12
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.
God our loving Father,
let me desire only you in my life
so that it is YOU whom I always ask for
and receive,
YOU whom I seek and find,
YOU whom I knock for 
the door to be opened
(Mt. 7:7).
Thank you, Lord, 
for allowing
me to tell you my 
needs and plans,
thank you for listening
even if there is no need
because YOU know best
and that is why,
here I am to you
asking for your grace
of enlightenment to put on my lips
the words I must speak
and in my heart the grace of 
docility and surrender to
your holy will.

Thank you, O God,
for always answering my calls,
for building up strength
within me (Ps.138:3);
I am still learning
and struggling to pray,
of totally submitting myself
to you like Queen Esther 
in the first reading when she,
like Jesus your Son,
offered her very self 
in total submission
to you.
Amen.

Lent is believing again

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Lent, 01 March 2023
Jonah 3:1-10   <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*>   Luke 11:29-31
Photo by author, 08 February 2023.
O loving Father,
teach us to believe again
during this blessed season of Lent;
help us rediscover our faith
to believe in you again amid our many
sins and guilt feelings;
help us to believe again in people
after so many betrayals by friends and family;
most of all, help us to believe again
in ourselves despite our failures
and weaknesses.
So many times we are like your
prophet Jonah, 
so reluctant in answering your calls,
so stubborn and hardheaded in our
biases and prejudices against others,
many times we resort to pessimism
and cynicism with how life in the world
is going, feeling lost and hopeless.

So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Jonah 3:3-5
Help us in our unbelief, Lord!
Help us stop asking for many signs
except Jesus Christ present to us
in the Sacraments especially
the Eucharist and Confession
we often receive these days.
Help us to simply believe
and obey your words
like Jonah at Nineveh.
Amen.

The joy of Lent, goodness of God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Ash Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Joel 2:12-18 ><))))*> 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ><))))*> Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Our opening antiphon
of today's celebration of 
Ash Wednesday gives hint
of the joyful tone of our Lenten journey:
"You are merciful to all, O Lord,
and despise nothing that you have made.
You overlook people's sins,
to bring them to repentance,
and you spare them,
for you are the Lord our God."
Amid the shades of violet
to signify our confession of sin
and movement of repentance
is also a profession of our faith 
in your love, kindness and mercy,
O God our Father!
The joy of Lent is YOU,
O God our loving Father
who lavishes us with mercy
in Christ Jesus.
Thank you for calling us
to enter into this holy season
of Lent; let us not forget that
YOU are the center and focus
of this journey, never us despite 
the good works we all have to do
like praying, fasting and alms-giving;
YOU are the one whom we must please,
not people so they may return to you; 
YOU are not appeased by what we offer
and do; in fact, we are able to come to
you because you are "gracious and
merciful" - we have come to know you
by your concrete actions of love
and mercy, kindness and tenderness.

Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.

Joel 2:12-13
Rend our closed hearts, O Lord;
tear apart the hard coverings of
bitterness and rejection,
doubts and mistrust
so we may open ourselves
to your coming in Christ Jesus;
strengthen our hearts so we may
come back to you in genuine conversion,
to be reconciled to you, O God,
for "now is a very acceptable time,
the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 5:20, 
6:2).
Grant us the right attitude of heart,
take away our vanities and hypocrisies
that neither deceive you nor fool people;
let us get inside ourselves to meet you
right inside us where you dwell,
waiting for us
to console us,
to refresh us,
to comfort us.
Amen.

Praying to see and thank

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 15 February 2023
Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22   ><)))*> + <*(((>< _ ><)))*> + <*(((><   Mark 8:22-26
Photo by author, Tagaytay City, 07 February 2023.

In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up. Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 8:13
Have we thanked you already,
O Lord God our loving Father,
since this COVID-19 pandemic 
had subsided in our country?
How beautiful was Noah's gesture
upon seeing the floods gone and 
the earth drying up when he first
built an altar to you to offer you
burnt offerings from among the best
animal and bird he had in the ark.
It has been a year since things
have gone better for us though
there is still the pandemic but,
it seems we have not thanked you
so well yet; we have been so eager
and so busy attending to recover
our material losses due to the 
lockdowns of the pandemic that
we have already forgotten the many
beautiful lessons of COVID-19 
like the value of every person,
the importance of prayer,
and most of all, your presence
among us in these most troubled 
years of modern history.
May times in life
we fail to see your goodness
and blessings around us, Lord,
that we keep on looking for what 
we do not have, what we have lost,
what have been taken from us;
through Jesus Christ,
take us aside from our busy
schedules and crazy rat race
to recover our losses from these
three years of hardships;
like that blind man in the gospel,
cleanse our eyes
to see the big difference 
we now have than before 
since this pandemic started;
help us see clearly one another
as brothers and sisters in Christ
and most of all,
let us see everything distinctly,
especially those that matter most, 
especially you, 
our very essence.
Amen.

We are our “brother’s keeper”

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 February 2023
Genesis 4:1-15, 25   ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Mark 8:11-13
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father,
for this wonderful Monday!
How amazing and lovely
to contemplate your words
daily, to experience your love
and mercy you lavishly pour
upon us despite our sinfulness.

Then the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord then said: “What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!”

Genesis 4:9-10
How often we act like
Cain, O Lord!
How often we miserably
fail one another, 
pretending not to know
each one when we cut off 
our ties as kins,
as brothers and sisters in
you our Father!
What a shame how everyday,
you ask us those basic questions
in Paradise after the fall of our 
first parents:  "Where are you?" and
then, "Where is your brother?"
Merciful Father,
let us ponder on these
questions of "where are you?"
and now "where is your brother?":
to find our place in you 
is always to find
and recognize too 
those around us as our kin,
our family in you;
open our eyes and 
our hearts to one another
as a sign of your presence
in Jesus Christ (Mk.8:11-13); 
let us feel the gravity 
of our sinfulness of
how evil in its darkest
reality happens right inside
our circles of family and
friends, when we strike one
another with our painful words,
or sharp looks, or indifference
and coldness; let us realize, however, 
that even in the midst of these
sinful thoughts and jealousies
we harbor against others in
our hearts, you remain in us,
still there continuing your
inner dialogue with us not to be
"resentful and crestfallen, 
to do well in order to hold up
our heads, and resist the demon
urging toward us" (Gen. 4:6-7).
In the name of Jesus Christ
your Son, in the power 
of the Holy Spirit,
enlighten our minds 
and our hearts,
dear Father,
to keep this basic truth
that we are indeed
our brother's keeper, 
that to keep our ties in you
tightly knit is to keep
our kinship always 
because you are our Father,
our origin and our end,

We pray in the most special
way for our family members
who have cut off ties with us,
those we have hurt or have hurt
us, choosing not to know us.
Touch their hearts.
Ask them too,
"Where is your brother,
your sister?"
Show them the way back
home, to experience
love and forgiveness
and mercy again.
Amen.

Opening to God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2023
Genesis 3:1-8   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Mark 7:31-37
Photo by author, 05 February 2023.
God our Father,
today your words teach us
what is to be truly opened,
when openness leads us to sin
and when the same openness leads
us to grace.

But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” …Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Genesis 3:4-5, 7
Keep us open to you always, Lord;
let us not dare open our eyes to things
we cannot completely see nor
comprehend;
keep us at home with the truth that
there are many things that seem only to be
apparently good and better not seen at all
because our eyes cannot completely see
and embrace the whole reality;
let us not dare to open things that
would only close us, 
shut us out from you.

then he (Jesus) looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”). And immediately the man’s ear’s were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

Mark 7:34-35
Like that deaf man
with a speech impediment
healed in the gospel today,
open us, O God our Father
in your Son Jesus Christ by
setting us aside from the noise
of the world, touching our senses,
and opening ourselves 
to your loving presence
and to your very person
so we may experience too
your healing comfort
and consolation;
give us the courage 
to open up to you,
like St. Scholastica
to bare our souls
and give our lives to you
in Christ Jesus who had come
to open for us anew the heavens
and finally be one in you
and with you.
Amen.

In the beginning

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial, St. Pedro Bautista & Companions, Priests/Martyrs, 06 February 2023
Genesis 1:1-19   <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*>   Mark 6:53-56
Photo by author, 6:30 AM, 29 January 2023, in Bgy. Igulot, Bocaue, Bulacan
"In the beginning,
when God created the heavens
and the earth, 
the earth was a formless wasteland,
and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over 
the waters" (Genesis 1:1-2).
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father,
in waking us up to a wonderful 
morning, reminding us of 
another beginning!
Though many of us have 
the Monday blues,
whining and complaining
of great tasks ahead,
of the many problems still not
solved especially unpaid bills
while others are still sick with
some feeling lost and empty
for so many reasons;
forgive us in first seeing what we
do not have without seeing what
you have given us!
Awaken our senses, Father!
Awaken us to this great 
reality of our daily "genesis" story:
of how in the beginning
there was nothing at all!
Help us appreciate how we
all started in the beginning
without the many things
we have today that despite 
the gloom and darkness,
pains and hurts,
we are still better off today
than before when we were just
beginning in our career,
in our business,
inn our studies,
in our lives.
Let us keep that in mind
and heart, O Lord, that 
in the beginning,
there was nothing until 
you blessed us with everything
that is good.
Let us be filled with hope
in you that while everything 
may be in chaos in every
beginning,
order soon follows
as you unfold your 
wonderful plans
for us.
Your Son Jesus Christ
came to enable us to start anew 
in daily life, to find every day 
a new beginning, a genesis,
and go back to you, Father;
to be touched with your love
and mercy so that we too
may touch others to experience
new beginnings in life.
The great martyr-priests 
of Japan led by St. Pedro Bautista
suffered greatly in bringing the faith
in the land of the rising sun;
their martyrdom may have ended
their lives but their faith in you
touched so many others that
brought new beginnings to life
here on earth; may we touch 
others with your love and mercy,
dear Jesus today to start a new
beginning 
for a new earth.  
Amen.