Category: Prayer/Spirituality

Prayer to have the look of faith

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Saturday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2019

Numbers 21:4-9 ><)))*> Philippians 2:6-11 ><)))*> John 3:13-17

The Brazen Serpent Monument on Mt. Nebo inside the Franciscan Monastery in Jordan, May 2019.

“We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

As we celebrate today the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, we widen our gaze on your holy cross, Lord Jesus, that remains standing to remind us of your love and mercy, of your abiding presence and light amidst the many darkness enveloping us today.

When we look around us, when we read the newspapers, watch the TV and listen to the radio, we cannot help but cry, even complain deep within like the Israelites in the wilderness why all the miseries still happening around us with all the killings and injustices going on.

Sometimes, Lord, the powers of evil and sin seem to prevail over the world cast in widespread darkness with all the chaos and confusions going on.

But here lies the beauty of your Cross, Jesus Christ: it does not deny the sufferings and pains caused by our sins that led to your death that still continue to this day and cause our grave sufferings; however, despite this gravity of our sins, your Cross reminds us too of your unending love and mercy.

More powerful than evil and darkness are your love and light, O sweet Jesus made manifest on your Cross.

Grant us that gaze of faith, the look of faith needed by so many of us travelling in this wilderness to always see you Lord who was sent by the Father because he so loved the world that whoever believes in you might not perish but gain eternal life. Amen.

Our sense of sinfulness

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Week XXIII, Year I, 13 September 2019

1 Timothy 1: 1-2, 12-14 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 6:39-42

From Google.

Thanks be to you, O God our loving Father for this merciful day of Friday. Today, the whole Church praises you with that beautiful Psalm 51, “The Miserere Nobis”.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offense. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them; my sin in always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done… O see, in guilt I was born, a sinner was I conceived.

From the Breviary

Like St. Paul in today’s first reading, give us the grace of having that “sense of sinfulness” within us, Lord.

So many times, we deny the presence of sin in our lives as we keep on justifying our actions, always having that feeling of uprightness, of never erring. Worst, we have become blind guides you have mentioned, O Lord, in the gospel today.

Give us the grace of a deep sense of sinfulness within us, Jesus, so that like St. Paul and all the other saints who were all sinners before, including Dimas the thief who died with you on the Cross on that Good Friday, we may also have that sense of the Father’s rich mercy.

Garden of Gethsemane, May 2019.

Let us not be blinded by our self-righteousness that make us deny the presence of sin in us that ultimately deny ourselves of your mercy. May we realise that only those who have been forgiven can understand what it means to receive the Father’s mercy. Amen.

Clothed in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Thursday, Week XXIII, Year I, 12 September 2019

Colossians 3:12-17 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 6:27-38

Sacred Heat Novitiate (Novaliches), July 2016.

It is only Thursday, Lord Jesus Christ, but suddenly your Most Sacred Heart came to mind, especially this beautiful hymn:

Heart of Jesus, meek and mild
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child,
When the tempest’s most severe, Heart of Jesus, hear!
Sweetly we’ll rest on Thy Sacred Heart,
Never from Thee, oh let us part,
Hear then Thy loving children’s pray’r,
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

Everyday, Lord, we think of the clothes we would wear and too often, our choices seem endless, taking so much of our time so we would always look good to others.

Today, O Lord, I pray, you clothe me with your person: through your “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, may everything I do be done in your most holy name, O Jesus”, (Col. 3:12, 17).

From Google.

To be clothed in you, O Lord Jesus, means to see the good in others than to see myself as the only one good.

To be clothed in you, O Jesus, is to get into the very heart of your gospel message of “loving our enemies” (Lk.6:27). It is the most radical words in your preaching that seems so impossibly hard for us to follow – unless we are clothed in you, O Christ.

That is why it is very important for us to be clothed in you, Jesus, because loving our enemies is the clearest expression we are your disciples, that is, Christians in the truest sense.

Help us to take off our clothes of pride and selfishness, our clothes of greed and insecurities that make us want more than what we have and what we need, and thus lead to our making enemies because we try to possess and defend.

Instead, let us be clothed in you, Jesus, so that we become poor like you with nothing to keep except everything to give and share.

In that manner, we become open and hospitable instead of being hostile with others. Amen.

Arising in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, Week XXIII, Year I, 11 September 2019

Colossians 3:1-11 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 6:20-26

Petra in Jordan. Photo by author, May 2019.

Lord Jesus Christ, today your apostle Paul calls us to “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth” (Col. 3: 2).

Then, in the gospel also today, you raised your eyes toward your disciples and began your “sermon on the plain” (Lk. 6:20)

What is up there, Lord Jesus, that we have to look up, that you have to raise your eyes looking at us?

When I was young, I was so afraid of heights but I have always wanted to be on top to see the beautiful sights that I did my best climbing trees and walls, even rooftops.

Now I am older, I still yearn to be on top to enjoy the sights but too weak to climb even the stairs.

All I can do now Lord is raise my eyes up to the skies, to treetops and mountains to enjoy the moments of looking up, and most of all, wondering at all your wonderful blessings to me — right here in my heart to find you and see you looking up at me!

What a beautiful lesson today of looking up, of seeing ourselves exalted by you despite our weaknesses and sinfulness. What a wonderful teaching about our new stature as your brothers and sisters, O Jesus, redeemed and loved. What a way of teaching us of our new life in you, dearest Christ and of the need to live accordingly as Christians!

So many times, we look down at ourselves, Lord, forgetting our blessedness in being poor and hungry, weeping and rejected in the name of your love and mercy.

Teach us to realise and value our being blessed in you so that our lives and actions may conform to your beatitudes. Amen.

Being immersed in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Tuesday, Week XXIII, Year I, 10 September 2019

Colossians 2:6-15 >< )))*> <*(((>< Luke 6:12-19

Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the Sanctuary of San Pietro Pietrelcina-Nuovo Chiesa in Italy. Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual, February 2019.

“Brothers and sisters: As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead… he brought you to life along with him.”

Colossians 2:6, 12, 13b

Praise and glory to you, our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for dying with us in our sins, forgiving us and raising us to new life in you in the sacrament of baptism!

Let us be immersed in you, Lord Jesus.

Let us claim our new life in you by walking with you who is our Way and Truth and Life.

To be immersed in you, O Christ, is to be free and faithful to lovingly serve you with all our mind, heart and soul. Being immersed in you is letting go of our pains and hurts in the past to start anew in you. To be immersed in you, O Christ, is to see more the goodness within each one of us because of you, the most holy one.

May we heed the call of St. Paul today not to be swayed by false beliefs and other philosophies not rooted in you, claiming elemental and dark powers here on earth.

You alone are the sovereign power here on earth and the entire universe, Lord Jesus.

And the good news is that through baptism, you have made us share in your “cosmic victory” of the Resurrection. More than a rite of initiation, our baptism is a sharing in your great power here on earth to conquer evil with good.

Let us be your modern “apostles” — an apostolein, someone sent ahead of you, someone with special relationship with you, someone truly immersed in you, very personal with you, Lord Jesus, who reign forever and ever. Amen.

Christ among us, our hope of glory!

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Monday, Week XXIII, Year I, 09 September 2019

Colossians 1:24-2:3 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 6:6-11

Photo by Fernando Andrade on Pexels.com

What a wonderful way to start the week of work and school with you, O Lord Jesus Christ dwelling in me! St. Paul perfectly said it in today’s first reading:

“God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.”

Colossians 1:27

Inspire me, Jesus, like St. Paul not to be disheartened by suffering, to be filled with passion in proclaiming your gospel not only in words but most of all in deeds. Take away all the hurts and pains, insecurities and doubts within me that prevent you from reigning in me.

Remind me, Jesus, that your gospel is not a philosophy nor a collection of doctrines or of ethics but your very person so that in preaching and witnessing your gospel, I may lead others to a personal encounter with you, O Lord.

Dwell in me, Jesus Christ, and let me do something good today like what you did to the man with a withered hand on a sabbath day. Amen.

A prayer to be one in Christ Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Week XXII, Year I, 06 September 2019

Colossians 1:15-20 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 5:33-39

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

Brothers and sisters, Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible… all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the Blood of his cross through him whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Colossians 1:15-16, 17, 19-20

What a lovely hymn in your honor, O Lord Jesus Christ! Truly in you we have experienced and proven indeed there is a God who loves us so much, and most of all, a personal God who relates with us, engages himself with us, one with us.

What a wonderful way to celebrate the first Friday of September 2019, a week of praying for important virtues we have forgotten in this modern world like the need to console those alone, to encourage so others may be whole again as a person, to be grateful for the person not the favor received, and to have knowledge to see God in everything by embracing the truths of faith.

In this age when God is just posited as a footnote in our daily lives, as a safety feature just in case things get off-hand or bad, you remind us to draw to you closer than ever in prayers, the Eucharist, and most of all, in fasting — something modern men and women frown upon and totally disregard.

Give us the grace O Lord Jesus to empty ourselves, to create a space within us for you to stay and dwell, and reign most of all.

We live today in the most trying times: everybody wants to be in control of everything, everybody wants to be heard and be seen alone as right with their twisted points of view about life and realities.

Bless us, Jesus, to find our way back to you, to be one with you again for you are the very reason why we are here. You are not just a person who had lived in the past we remember but the very reason of creation and redemption in whom the fullness of God is found. Amen.

Prayer for knowledge

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Thursday, Week XXII, Year I, 05 September 2019

Colossians 1:9-14 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 5:1-11

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

Brothers and sisters: From the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking you that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God.

Colossians 1:9-10

Once again, you struck me today Lord through St. Paul’s letter to pray for another important grace we badly need these days — “knowledge”.

In this age of Google and Wikipedia, we have taken the gift of knowledge for granted, confusing it with information that often has no meaning and depth. As a result, we have “smart phones” and stupid people who justify everything without any qualms and sense of self-respect and decency!

Remind us, Lord, that knowledge is more than being reasonable and logical; knowledge is embracing the truths of faith, of seeing you in everything.

Like Simon Peter, bless us Lord with the gift of knowledge to enable us to make right judgments regarding earthly things and how they are related with eternal life and holiness.

Like Simon Peter, may we learn to set aside our human knowledge and expertise to take the leap of faith in casting the net into the deep upon your instructions after a night of catching nothing.

What a great gift of knowledge you have given Simon that day when he realised you are “Lord” and he is a “sinful man” (Lk. 5:8). Most of all, in obeying instructions from a carpenter like you, Lord!

Fill us with your knowledge, Lord, to realise the truth of Albert Einstein’s words that “everything in this life is a miracle”! Amen.

A prayer to be grateful

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, Week XXII, Year I, 04 September 2019

Colossians 1:1-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:38-44

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

Heavenly Father, I always thank you in my prayers. Early in life, I have been told to always say “thank you” and I have diligently kept that, always thanking people especially you for your goodness to me.

But, now I wonder if I have been “thanking” so much without being truly grateful?

There are “thank you’s” that come from lips and there are “thank you’s” that come from the heart which is what gratitude is all about. So often, I say “thank you” out of habit without really looking into the heart, the goodness of the one doing or giving me a favor. Too often, I thank for the thing or favor, not the person.

“We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jess and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.”

Colossians 1:3-5

How lovely it is to dwell on St. Paul’s expression of his gratitude, his thanksgiving that is clearly directed to persons – including you, O God!

Like the people of Capernaum where you have healed Simon’s mother-in-law and others, they saw your person to thank that they begged you to stay in their town.

Remind me always, Lord, that whenever I say “thank you”, I may first try to feel the heart and experience the goodness of the person doing me good for a grateful heart always sees the loving face. Amen.

Prayer to encourage

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Tuesday, Memorial of St. Gregory the Great, 03 September 2019

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:31-37

Photo by Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 31 August 2019.

“For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

Dearest God our Father: Yesterday your words moved me to pray for consolation, to accompany those “alone”. Today, your words call me to “encourage one another and build up one another.”

How beautiful and wonderful indeed are your words, so powerful and fulfilling, indicating your very presence!

In this highly competitive world, it is not enough that we encourage people but also to build them up. From the Latin words “en” and “cor”, literally meaning to hearten or strengthen the heart, there are times that encouragement without community can be misleading and even destructive too.

Encouragement is going within every person, right into one’s heart like in your Son’s exorcism of a man possessed by “unclean demon” who “left the man without harming him” (Lk.4:35). From the heart, true encouragement moves outward to touch others’ hearts to form a community. Every time you heal the sick, Lord, people are moved to build up their families and community.

Encouragement is not pushing people to do and achieve things. Encouragement is bringing others closer to you through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is actually Jesus Christ who encourages for it is him alone who touches hearts and moves them to build up a person, families, and communities.

Like your servant St. Gregory the Great he encouraged not only Christians but also pagans to work for unity and to pursue so many efforts that built up not only persons and families, nations and tribes, monasteries and churches but most of all, an entire civilization now slowly turning away from you.

Fill us with more courage and wisdom, holiness and patience in encouraging one another to build up communities as we await for your joyful coming again. Amen.