The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick, 11 February 2023
Genesis 3:9-24 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 8:1-10
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago in Lourdes, France, 2018.
The Lord God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father!
Until now, you never stop from
calling us,
asking us
like Adam after the Fall,
"Where are you?"
On this Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
which is also the World Day of the Sick
we come to you,
presenting ourselves before you,
sinful and sorrowful,
weak and very sick,
hurt and aching inside,
lost and searching for meaning
in this life.
Have mercy on us,
dear God our Father;
your Son Jesus Christ
came to look for us
to bring us closer to you
by giving us his very self as
food and drink
in this journey of life.
Make us stop from
hiding from you,
from running away from you;
let us stop
to be with you,
to be healed,
to be consoled,
and most of all,
to be restored in you
in Christ Jesus
with Mary our Mother,
the Immaculate Conception.
Amen.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago in Lourdes, France, 2018.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-11 ng Pebrero 2022
Paggunita sa Mahal na Birhen ng Lourdes
Isaias 66:10-14 + Juan 2:1-11
Mga tao pumipila sa mapagpagaling na tubig ng batis sa Lourdes, France; larawan mula sa Shutterstock.
Papuri at pasasalamat sa iyo,
Diyos naming Ama sa pagbubuhos
ng iyong mga biyaya at pagpapala
sa amin sa pamamagitan ni
Hesus na iyong Anak: kay sarap
isipin una niyang "tanda" o himala
nangyari doon sa kasalan sa Cana,
Galilea nang gawin niyang masarap
na inuming alak ang tubig na isinalin
sa mga tapayan.
Sa gitna ng tanda na ito ay naroon
ang Mahal na Birheng Maria na nagkusang
namagitan sa mga bagong kasal nang
maubusan ng alak sa kanilang pagdiriwang;
naligtas sila ni Hesus sa kahihiyan
nang gawin niyang alak mga tubig
sa tapayan.
Makalipas ang kulang-kulang
dalawang libong taon noong 1858,
napakita ang Mahal na Birheng Maria
kay Santa Bernadette doon sa isang
grotto sa Lourdes, France; bumukal
isang munting batis at hanggang
ngayon, tinuturing na mapaghimala
matapos mapagaling maraming mga
maysakit.
Salamat sa biyaya ng tubig na
siya ring dumaloy sa sinibat na
tagiliran ni Hesus doon sa Krus;
salamat sa biyaya ng tubig na
tanda ng paglilinis sa aming katauhan
sa sakramento ng binyag;
salamat Ama sa pagtupad ng iyong
pangako kay Propeta Isaias (66:10-14)
na kami ay iyong "padadalhan ng ina"
na sa amin ay "kakalinga at mag-aaruga
tulad ng sa isang sanggol sa oras ng
pagkakasakit at kagipitan"; higit sa lahat,
salamat sa pagbibigay mo sa amin,
Panginoong Hesus, sa iyong Ina,
ang Mahal na Birheng Maria
na naging daluyan ng maraming
pagpapala at kagalingan sa mga
may sakit at karamdaman sa
iyong kapangyarihan.
Panginoong Hesus,
dalisayin mo kami at linisin
aming mga puso at kalooban
upang makatulad si Maria na iyong
Ina at amin ding Ina; sa kanyang
pananalangin nawa kami ay maghatid
ng kagalingan at kapayapaan sa
mga may sakit at nahihirapan gaya
ng mapaghimalang tubig sa batis ng
grotto sa Lourdes, France lalong
higit sa panahong ito ng pandemya.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, 11 February 2021
Thursday, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick
Isaiah 66:10-14 >><)))*> + <*(((><< John 2:1-11
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago at Lourdes, France, 2018.
Praise and glory to you, dearest God our Father through your Son Jesus Christ who gave us his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Mother too as we celebrate today the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick.
From the beginning since Jesus Christ began his ministry to our modern time, Mary has always been with him showing us your great signs of presence, of generosity, and of life first anticipated at the wedding feast at Cana.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. when the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
John 2:1-5
I cannot help but rejoice at how our evangelist situated the first sign performed by Jesus which is “on the third day”, reminding us of Easter Sunday, the fullness of your coming to us, the fullness of our healing and salvation, the third day after the “hour” of the Lord.
Crucifix on the wall of a chapel at Cana, Galilee.
Both at Cana and at Lourdes there was water, the sign of your life and in both instances, Mary was present interceding for our benefit.
At Cana, water became an excellent wine to prefigure the Lord’s Supper we celebrate each day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as a foretaste of our promised glory in heaven while at Lourdes, water transformed the sick who were healed after they have come to bathe at its springs.
Through the example of faith by Mother Mary, our human efforts now encounter the gift of God in Jesus to create the feast of joy of communion, of healing, of fulfillment that can only be made possible by God’s presence and his gift of self in Christ.
At Cana and on to Lourdes and wherever we may be, every day is God’s coming, the “hour” of Jesus in every “here” and “now” when we experience the sign of God’s overflowing generosity to us all who are so tired and exhausted in this life especially the sick in this time of the corona pandemic.
Thank, loving God our Father in fulfilling your promise through the prophet Isaiah that you would send us a mother who shall comfort us in moments of sickness and darkness.
May the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes help us get through these tough times and lead us closer to Jesus her Son who is our true Peace and Joy by doing whatever he tells us like the servants at Cana. Amen.
The Cross of Christ atop the church of our Lady of Lourdes in France. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago taken September 2018.
Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick, 11 February 2020
Isaiah 66:10-14 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< John 2:1-11
Photo of Our Lady of Lourdes in France by Arch. Philip Santiago, September 2018.
Praise and glory to you O God, our loving and merciful Father who has given us a wonderful and most kind mother in the Blessed Virgin Mary through Jesus Christ your Son.
Through Mary, your abundant blessings, O God, have flowed and continue to overflow upon us even with the completion of her mission here on earth as Mother of Jesus.
How true were your words to the Prophet Isaiah that you shall send Israel a mother who shall comfort us, a mother in whom you shall spread prosperity and blessings upon us (Isaiah 66:10-14).
When Mary came into the scene when she was conceived without original sin, through her came our Savior Jesus Christ. From the very start, she worked to be the vessel of your blessings, God.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus told them, “Fill the jars wit water.”
John 2:1-3, 5, 7
How wonderful to recall and meditate on this first miracle of Jesus of turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana through the intercession of his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
How lovely it is that more than 1800 years, another miracle would happen again from you, O God, at a grotto in Lourdes, France involving water through the Blessed Virgin Mary again!
Thank you dearest Jesus for the gift of water, the gift of life in you. Water is the primordial element of life, and water is also one of the primordial symbols of humanity. How amazing that since the miracle at Cana, your life continues to overflow upon us, Lord Jesus Christ, through Mary especially at Lourdes, France.
There are at Lourdes, Mary told the young St. Bernadette to dig on earth where water burst forth a spring, like life coming out of the womb of the earth. Until now, that spring is the origin and beginning of many healings and other miracles among generations of different peoples from all walks of life and nation, including to those who have not been there in Lourdes, France!
The waters of Lourdes remain a symbol of fruitfulness and of healing, of maternity in Mary who cares most to us and the sick next to Jesus our Lord and Savior..
Give us the grace, O God, the gift of purity, of cleanliness in our hearts so that we may become like Mary at Lourdes as a vessel of your healing and compassion especially for the sick of the world. Amen.
Photo of a cross of atop the church of Our Lady of Lourdes in France by Arch. Philip Santiago during his pilgrimage, September 2018.
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in France. Photo by my former student at ICSB-Malolos, Architect Philip Santiago during his pilgrimage there last September. Used with permission.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Monday, 11 February 2019, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes
Isaiah 66:10-14///John 2:1-11
God our loving Father, when your Son Jesus Christ came to save us, He did not only give Himself for us but even gave us His Mother, Mary to be our Mother too. How wonderful that three years before His “hour” on the Cross, Jesus showed us a glimpse of His immense love for us through His mother at the wedding feast of Cana.
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn.2:5).
Most of all, what is most beautiful on this memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes when she appeared there in 1858 to St. Bernadette Soubirous as the Immaculate Conception, we also celebrate today the World Day of the Sick to remind us “to see in our sick brothers and sisters the face of Christ who, by suffering, dying and rising, achieved the salvation of humankind” as per St. John Paul II in his later on May 13, 1992.
Help us O Lord to do whatever you tell us especially for the sick, giving them comfort “like a mother to her son so that their bodies shall fluorish like the grass” (Is.66:13-14). May we be a mother like Mary to everyone, always “concerned” with the good of each one like during that wedding at Cana.
O what a joy indeed for us to have Mary as our Mother too like a spring leading us to Jesus who refreshes us, heals us, and frees us. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
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