The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week XIV, Year I in Ordinary Time, 07 July 2021
Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7, 17-24 ><)))*>+><)))*> Matthew 10:1-7
It is only now have I realized,
Lord, how far we have been travelling
in this life
and how often have we
truly asked you for directions;
so often in life
off we go where our desires
and plans lead us
deciding on our own
charting our own maps,
asking directions from everybody,
even non-persons like Google and Waze
and still get lost
for we never asked you directions
nor followed your direction.
When hunger came to be felt
throughout the land of Egypt
and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread,
Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to
go to Joseph and do whatever he told them.(Genesis 41:55)
Jesus sent out these Twelve
after instructing them thus,
"Do not go into pagan territory or
enter a Samaritan town.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."(Matthew 10:5-6)
Go where, O God?
Go to persons, go to people.
Go to those with integrity and faith in you
like Joseph your servant sold to Egypt
by his own brothers.
Go to those lost and hurting,
to those who were one with us
but left us because we have hurt them
or taken them for granted
or have abandoned them.
Let us go, dear God,
where you desire us to bring you
to share you.
And find YOU.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the XIVth Week, Year I in Ordinary Time, 06 July 2021
Genesis 32:23-33 > + < Matthew 9:32-38
Photo by author, Agony at the Garden of Gethsemane, the Holy Land, 2019.
Your words, O Lord
of Jacob wrestling with you
or, your angel (?)
reminds me of Jesus Christ's
own agony in the garden.
And for me, it is one of sweetest
scenes in the whole bible,
the finest example of an animated
and engaging relationship
with you, dear God our Father.
Jacob was left there alone.
Then some man wrestled
with him until the break of dawn.
When the man saw that
he could not prevail over him,
he struck Jacob's hip at its socket,
so that the hip socket was wrenched
as they wrestled. Then the man said,
"You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob,
but as Israel, because you have contended
with divine and human beings
and have prevailed."
(Genesis 32:25-26, 29)
Loving Father,
forgive us when we "box" you
as being stern and stiff like the police
waiting for our slightest mistakes
and violations; surprise us, dear God
with your intimacy, closely engaging
wrestling and contending with you
to bring out the best in us
and still see your very best plans
that cleanse and purify us of our intentions.
Grant us the grace of intimacy
that is most surprising
when we have to wrestle
with you like Jacob and be "Israel"
so that your might and your truth
will always prevail
unlike the Pharisees who were afraid
to get closer to Christ and be purified
that they vilified and later crucified
to hide in their weaknesses and sins.
Grant us courage and strength
dear God in engaging with you
realizing our limits
humbly surrendering to your will
like Jacob at Peniel;
let us be not like those Pharisees
who refused to contend
by insisting their contempt for Jesus
thinking they can prevail on him
only to reveal their evil within.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week XIV, Year I in Ordinary Time, 05 July 2021
Genesis 28:10-22 ><)))'>+><)))'>+><)))'> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, at Quezon Province, 2020.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep,
he exclaimed,
"Truly, the Lord is in this spot,
although I did not know it!"
In solemn wonder he cried out:
"How awesome is this shrine!
This is nothing else but an abode of God,
and that is the gateway to heaven!"
(Genesis 28:16-17)
Surprise us, O Lord, today
like Jacob after his dream.
Gift us with the sense of
wonder and awe,
open ourselves to realize
and experience your presence;
teach our hearts and minds
to be observant and sensitive
of your coming in Jesus Christ
who is filled with life and joy
from whom flows healing
and fullness of life.
We pray, dear God
for the gift of faith
so we may be surprised again
with the usual things in life
like the tassel of the cloak of Jesus;
help us imitate that
hemorrhaging woman
so convinced of
Christ's extraordinary powers
present in the most ordinary
happening daily if we believe
then we can see clearly your majesty!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Friday of the Month, Week XIII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 02 July 2021
Genesis 23:1-4, 19-24:1-8, 62-67 ><)))'> + <'(((>< Matthew 9:9-13
“Calling of St. Matthew” painting by Caravaggio from en.wikipedia.org.
God our loving Father in heaven,
open our eyes to see and recognize
the right persons you send us
to be our friends and colleagues,
co-workers and co-journeyers in life.
Let us not forget that first of all,
the right person we first meet from you
is our very selves!
Thank you for believing in us.
Thank you for creating us.
Thank you in sharing with us your
truth and beauty, your image
and likeness that is very good.
As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the customs post.
He said to him,
"Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
(Matthew 9:9)
Let this scene be a constant reminder to us
of your mercy and love, dear God
that no matter how bad is the perception
of others on us, you still see the best in us.
Give us the grace to be attentive
to Jesus Christ passing by, calling us
even while we are in the darkness of our sin
indulging in luxuries and comfort,
power and fame of a sick world.
Like Matthew, let Jesus our light
make us rise to follow him
leave the damp and dark world of sin
and see again the light within
of your glow and majesty.
"Never take my son back there
for any reason," Abraham told his servant.
"the Lord, the God of heaven,
will send his messenger before you,
and you will obtain a wife for my son there."
A long time later, Isaac went to live
in the region of the Negeb.
One day toward evening
he went out in the field,
and as he looked around,
he noticed that camels were
approaching. Rebekah, too,
was looking about, and when she
saw him, she alighted from her camel...
Then Isaac took Rebekah into his tent;
he married her, and thus she became
his wife. In his love for her
Isaac found solace after the death
of his mother Sarah.
(Genesis 24:6, 7, 62-64, 67)
What a beautiful love story
that looked like in the movie, sweet Lord
where you surely send us the right persons
at the right time
for the right reason
because of love.
We pray for those waiting for their
right persons, whether in love or profession,
or for any reason you and they alone know,
grant them the faith of Abraham
and the enlightenment of Matthew.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XIII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 01 July 2021
Genesis 22:1-19 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Matthew 9:1-8
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, M.D., March 2021.
When I look at your beautiful creation
O God our loving Father
I cannot but stop and wonder
be at awe with all the beauty
and mystery so extraordinary
yet ordinary in your majesty.
Today we have two stories
so extraordinary but with you
simply ordinary: when you asked
Abraham to offer to you Isaac,
off he went faithfully
even blindly:
As the two walked on together,
Isaac spoke to his father Abraham,
"Father!" he said.
"Yes, son," he replied.
Isaac continued, "Here are the fire
and the wood, but where is the sheep
for the burnt offering?"
"Son," Abraham answered,
"God himself will provide the sheep
for the burnt offering?"
Then the two continued going forward.
(Genesis 22:7-8)
The faith of Abraham in you, O God,
is so great, so extraordinary;
and so was the faith of Isaac
to his father that it never occurred
to him he would be the one to be
sacrificed either.
Both Abraham and Isaac showed
extraordinary faith you ordinarily ask from us.
Give us the grace, O God,
to imbibe this ordinariness
of having extraordinary faith in you,
like the harmony and beauty
found ordinarily in nature;
may we realize that any sickness
is a "dis-ease", our lack of harmony
with you and with others due to sin.
Let us not "harbor evil thoughts"
like those scribes present at
Christ's healing of a paralytic
to whom he declared
"your sins are forgiven" (Mt.9:2)
to show that wherever there is
dis-ease, there is a lack of harmony
wanting your mercy and unity.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of the First Martyrs of Rome, 30 June 2021
Genesis 21:5, 8-20 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 8:28-34
First Martyrs of Rome, from Pinterest.com.
You touched my heart so much,
God our loving Father
as your words spoke today
of people being sent away:
Sarah noticed the son
whom Hagar the Egyptian
had borne to Abraham
playing with her son Isaac;
so she demanded of Abraham:
"Drive that slave and her son!
No son of of that slave is going to share
the inheritance with my son Isaac!"
(Genesis 21:9-10)
Abraham was greatly distressed
and so am I, Lord, when I remember
and think of those many people
driven away, sent home or so far away
due to anger and jealousy,
hatred and modern forms of slavery
as well as sometimes for reasons of
inefficiency and deficiencies.
Have mercy on us, O Lord
when we find it so easy
to drive people away
without realizing
for every person sent home
or driven away
with nowhere to go
not only a job or education is lost
but most of all,
we deprive them of life and future.
And that is why we thank you O God,
in taking care of Hagar and Ishmael
after they were sent away
like those many others in our own time
sent away without the basic necessities
and worse victims of human trafficking;
We beg you, dear Father,
like Jesus in the gospel
may he set us free from the evils that
bound us today when we see more
the value of things and money
than of every person.
May the first martyrs of Rome
pray for us to be firm in standing
for the value of every person.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2021
Acts of the Apostles 12:1-11 + 2Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 + Matthew 16:13-19
Easter Sunday 2019 at St. Peter’s Rome with Pope Francis, photo from vaticannews.va.
God our loving Father, thank you for this Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul who both mirror to us our primary tasks as stewards of the Church founded by your Son Jesus Christ. Despite our many differences in our personalities and backgrounds, help us find in them what the Church should be and would be by our love and faith in Christ Jesus and the mission he entrusted us.
Remind us we are stewards of the kingdom of heaven among our brothers and sisters – not their masters even if we are entrusted with the power of binding and unbinding
“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:18-19
Let us be won over by Jesus Christ, by giving him entirely our faith and love despite our many weaknesses. Like Sts. Peter and Paul, may we keep in mind that our primary task in the Church is to serve, not to rule over the people nor amass wealth and fame along the way.
Let us strive to be loved than be feared so that in every decision we make people may find and realize your Holy Will.
O dear God, as we face today another serious threat of a new COVID-19 strain called Delta variant that is believed to be more dangerous as it spreads so fast, may we witness in our lives as we proclaim in words and in deeds your saving love and mercy in Jesus Christ.
May we offer our very selves like St. Peter and St. Paul, messengers of your love to everyone especially those in the margins of the society so they may continue to keep their faith amidst the many hardships during this pandemic for you, O God is always among us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, 28 June 2021
Genesis 18:16-33 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Matthew 8:18-22
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Lalakhan, Santa Maria, Bulacan, 02 June 2021.
You are sometimes
so funny and amusing, dear God
when you act like our daddy
as if like dilly dallying
on whether to tell us something
he is planning
knowing so well
he is the father and the master
that we his children must obey
and abide by his will and order.
How nice of you, O Lord
to act so decent, so good
full of kindness and consideration
to make us feel important
with what you have in mind
of our role and part in your divine plan
because when you act like one of us
that is when you also want us
to act like you, to think like you
to be holy like you.
The Lord reflected,
"Shall I hide from Abraham
what I am about to do
(to Sodom and Gomorrah),
now that he is to become a great
and populous nation,
and all nations of the earth
are to find blessing in him?
Indeed, I have singled him out
that he may direct his children
and his household after him
to keep the way of the Lord
by doing what is right and just,
so that the Lord may carry into effect
for Abraham the promises he made about him."
(Genesis 18:17-19)
But more than acting
and thinking like you, O God,
is for us to love like you
that is why sometimes
Jesus sounds too harsh and
difficult to follow, challenging us
to let go of our own desires
and usual ways of living
in order to love you completely
and selflessly.
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens, birds have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere
to rest his head."
Another of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him,
"Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead."
(Matthew 8:20-22)
We pray, O Lord,
for our leaders in the Church
and in government
to be more committed
in serving your people
than in serving their own interests;
enlighten them of your ways, Lord,
of your kindness and mercy
dispensing justice swiftly
where there is outcry against sin. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Week XII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 25 June 2021
Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 > + < Matthew 8:1-4
Photo by author at Petra, Jordan, 2019.
When Abraham was ninety-nine years old,
The Lord appeared to him and said:
"I am God the Almighty.
Walk in my presence and be blameless."
(Genesis 17:1)
What a beautiful call from you,
O God our Father:
to walk in your presence
and be blameless.
Our lives consist of so many walks
many in a hurry, some very slowly
and maybe the rest listlessly, aimlessly
refusing to move at all.
Teach us, O Lord,
to walk blamelessly
by walking in your ways
following the path of the narrow gate
learning to prostrate before you
like Abraham when filled with joy
or like the leper who approached Jesus
when deeply in pain and suffering.
When Jesus came down
from the mountain,
great crowds followed him.
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 8:1-3)
We pray for those who have stopped
walking to you
walking with you, Lord:
let them rise again to walk
blamelessly in your sight.
Heal them and likewise
send them again to walk in your presence
and be agents of your healing. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, 24 June 2021
Isaiah 49:1-6 ><}}}*> Acts 13:22-26 ><}}}*> Luke 1:57-66, 80
Photo by Fr. Pop Dela Cruz, Binuangan Is., Obando, Bulacan, May 2021.
Dearest God our Father:
Grant me the grace to be silent
so I can listen to your voice more,
of those around me and most especially
to that voice within me
that speaks freely and truly
of what is good in me like what
the psalmist sings today:
"I praise you for I am
wonderfully made."
On this Solemnity of the Nativity
of John the Baptist
whose name means
"God is gracious",
help me to remain and be still
in my own wilderness
trusting in your providence
never to voice any protest
but simply profess
my firm faith in you
as I silently await the Word
becoming flesh, dwelling in me
proclaiming his good news of
salvation especially to the
the voiceless many
as you have promised the prophet:
"He made of me a sharp-edged
sword and concealed me
in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me."
(Isaiah 49:2)
O God, like when John was born
people are wondering these days
what will we as a people be
in this year of the pandemic?
So many loud voices are heard
but none voiced out the pains
and concerns of the voiceless
left to suffer by themselves.
Let your voice come to me
that I may courageously speak
your words of sympathy and unity
comfort and encouragement
without focusing on me
for like John the Baptist
I am not worthy to unfasten
the sandals of my Lord, Jesus
who alone must increase
as I decrease.
Amen.
Photo by author, marker at the Church of St. John the Baptist, the Holy Land, 2019.
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