Category: Prayer/Spirituality

Friends in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 12 May 2023
Acts 15:22-31   ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*>   John 15:12-17
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2016.
As we come to close the week,
I tried reimagining your last supper,
that Holy Thursday before you were
betrayed, arrested and tried 
then sentenced to death 
the following Good Friday;
also known as Maundy Thursday
from the Latin word "mandatum, mandatus"
which is "commandment" because
it was on that evening you gave us 
your only commandment.

Jesus said to his disciples: “This is my commandment: love one an other as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.”

John 15:12-15
Oh sweet Jesus!
Earlier after washing 
your disciples' feet that evening,
you told them you were their
Lord and Master 
even if you acted like their 
slave in washing their feet;
but still in that scene came 
these words, you calling them
and us --- as friends with whom
you have revealed everything
from the Father, and most of all, 
friends for whom you offered
your very life for our salvation!
That evening, you have shown us,
dear Jesus, that love is our destiny;
to love like you is more than obeying
your commandment to love but 
becoming like you who is love himself!
Is it not that is the goal of every love,
to become like the beloved?
You first showed us how is that possible
when you as the Son of God became human
like us, your beloved so that
we may become like you,
holy, our beloved.
Let us grow in that wonderful friendship
only you can offer us;
may we not be like those some early
Christians who insisted on imposing
their beliefs on others;
let us learn that to truly love like you
is to think less of ourselves,
of our beliefs
in order to see your face on
others not like us
so that we start becoming
like you, Jesus our beloved
found in others;
teach us, Jesus, 
to be a friend 
to others especially
those in the margins
who for the longest
time have been looking 
at us from afar,
hoping they could be
like us too -
"upwardly mobile",
with access to education,
to clean water
and decent home.

Wash and cleanse
our eyes, Lord, 
so we could also see
others wishing to be
your friends too
in us.
Amen.
From Google.

Remaining in love

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 11 May 2023
Acts 15:7-21   ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'>   John 15:9-11
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Today dear Jesus,
thrice you have asked us
"remain in my love"
in three short verses
of the gospel.

And I wonder why you used
the word to "remain" 
than "stay" as we would use
these days,
"staying in love"?
Should I stay, or
should I remain?
It may sound like more of 
semantics but to remain 
sounds strong,
evoking firmness
and resolve.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:9-10
Remaining in your love,
Lord Jesus, 
is being deeply rooted in you
like a big tree;
to be rooted in you
means being secured 
about who we are
as your beloved
and what is our mission
in this world which is to love,
love, and love;
remaining in your love, Lord,
is therefore having our hearts
connected with your heart,
feeling your presence
and movements in us and among us,
when we do not become anxious
when challenged and attacked,
when turmoil happen in our
relationships because it is you
whom we always see
and tries to find like Peter
and James, Paul and Barnabas
during the Council of Jerusalem
in the first reading.
Remaining in your love,
Jesus, is remaining connected,
remaining one in you, with you
that results in joy in us
because what we see,
what we experience,
what we believe 
is you working
in us and among us.
Amen.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, love is our fruit!

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 10 May 2023
Acts 15:1-6   <*((((>< + ><))))*>    John 15:1-8
From Google.com
Thank you dear Jesus
for not just coming to us
but also in becoming human
like us in everything except sin,
in being planted here on earth
to be one with us
and we be one in you,
one with you.
Thank you dear Jesus
for being our true vine,
making us your branches;
many times we do not understand
and would even refuse your Father's
ways and methods of "pruning" us,
of purifying us so that we 
may bear more fruit.
But, what fruit must we bear,
Lord Jesus?

“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5
Lord Jesus,
when you died on the Cross,
you bore only one fruit we
continue to savor and
enjoy today --- LOVE.

Thank you for the fruit
of love; we can only be 
fruitful in love if we
remain in you,
when we are purified
and pruned.  
Many times, 
our pruning and 
purification do not look 
good at all like when there are
differences among us
that arise like with
the first Christians
when some insisted that 
Gentile converts be subjected
to Mosaic laws like circumcision;
keep us intact with you, Lord, 
so that we may see more
of you, our true vine than us
who are merely your branches;
keep us open to one another,
trying to find you, Jesus, 
by being more kind,
more understanding,
more open to overcome 
our differences
so that in the end, 
without us even knowing,
we have become fruitful,
not necessarily successful
because we have become
abundant 
in your love.
Amen.

True and lasting peace

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Easter, 09 May 2023
Acts 14:19-28   ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   John 14:27-31
Photo by author, Jesuit Cemetery, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 21 March 2023.
Lord Jesus Christ,
today I feel it is not enough
that we simply pray for peace;
before we could pray for peace,
let us first understand
and embrace the peace 
that you give.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

John 14:27
Dear Jesus,
in this time when the world
including our families
and very selves are beset 
with tensions and conflicts,
the more we keep on praying
for peace but the more it
has become elusive; worst,
on many occasions, peace is 
often used as a slogan just
for the sake of saying something
precious and important without
realizing the more peace is
cheapened and played at.
Let it be clear with us,
Jesus, that your peace is not
just the absence of war nor
of conflicts but the fruit of love
as our Church Fathers declared
at Vatican II; let it be clear with us
that your peace is not like what
the world gives based on transactions
that often favor the powerful;
let it be clear with us that your
peace entails sufferings, 
of "undergoing many hardships"
(Acts 14:22) and most of all, 
calls us to confront our true 
selves because what troubles us
most are those moments and things
we insist more on ourselves than
surrender ourselves to you and
to others; many of our troubles
are rooted inside us making 
peace improbable because 
we have too much of ourselves,
without any room for others
and for you.
Teach us, Lord Jesus,
that to achieve your peace,
we have to be at home with
our true selves by accepting
our strengths and giftedness
as well as weaknesses in order
to be at home too with those 
around us in their own imperfections
and talents so that in the end,
we all rely only on you, Jesus,
as we entrust ourselves to you,
our thoughts and feelings,
our plans and agenda
including our fears
so that we all
become at home
with you because 
your peace 
is being at home
with our true selves,
with others, 
and with you.
Amen.

Loving God is continuous service

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 05 May 2023
Acts 13:26-33   ><)))*> + <*(((><   John 14:1-6
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you very much,
Lord Jesus Christ
for the assurance 
"Do not to let 
your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God;
have faith also in me.
In my Father's house 
there are many dwelling places.
If there were not, would I have
told you that I am going
to prepare a place for you?"
(John 14:1-2).
Thank you,
thank you,
thank you, Lord Jesus!
We pray for those whose hearts
are so troubled these days:
those who will undergo surgery
especially in the heart and 
in the brain; parents worried of
their sick children or children
who have gone wayward, lost
in life despite the love they 
have showered them;
spouses taking care of their
sick husband or wife;
those of us going through
anxiety or panic attacks
for so many reasons that
are often not valid at all:
Lord, we are so troubled 
with everything because 
so often we do not dwell
in you, our true home!

Many times, we are troubled
because we do not abide 
or dwell in you with each other 
when some of us have suddenly
turned cold and distant,
unfaithful or feeling betrayed
and taken for granted.

Let us be present, Lord,
in you in others; 
let us serve in love.
Loving God is a 
continuous service
of being present 
with others,
especially our family
and friends.
Help us renew our ties,
our dwelling in you,
Lord Jesus, God's 
"begotten Son" (Acts 13:33)
by continuing this journey
of loving service in you
for you are "the way 
and the truth
and the life" (Jn. 14:6).
Amen.

Dwelling in Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of Sts. Philip & James the Less, Apostles, 03 May 2023
1 Corinthians 15:1-8   ><))))"> + ><))))"> + ><))))">   John 14:6-14
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
Thank you, dearest Lord Jesus Christ
for the gift of two Apostles whose
feast we celebrate today,
St. Philip and St. James the Less;
thank you in giving us examples
to personally be near you,
to be one with you 
and to be one in you.
How lovely it is to recall
when Philip along with Andrew 
approached and asked you 
where you stayed and you told them
to "come and see"; what they saw
and experienced must be so wonderful
that Philip was so convinced in
calling Nathanael to come and see you
whom he had recognized as the Messiah.

In being your apostles,
Philip and James remind us 
of the need to be close 
and familiar with you to
discover your true identity,
to enter into a personal contact
with you by listening, responding
and communing in you Jesus daily,
of the need to dwell in you always.

During your last supper,
you expressed clearly how
the word "dwelling" means -
intimacy and oneness in the Father
in you and with one another also
in you, dear Jesus. 
Your cousin James who eventually
became the bishop of Jerusalem
practiced this meaning of dwelling
in you by working to resolve the
the tensions among the Jewish 
and Hellenist converts to
Christianity; how beautiful that
the early Church lived in 
harmony with each other,
rooted in you, Jesus, 
our home,
our dwelling.
Amen.

The gift of encouragement

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 02 May 2023
Acts 11:19-26   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   John 10:22-30
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.
God our loving Father,
fill us with your grace of
encouragement;
give us the grace to
encourage people especially
those discouraged to move
on with life,
those discouraged by setbacks
and other disappointments
in life,
those discouraged by sickness,
by poverty, by so many other
reasons that they lose hope
and trust in you.

Like the Apostle Barnabas
whose name means
"son of encouragement",
may we bring encouragement
to others especially in times of
uncertainties, of sufferings,
and difficulties; most of all, like
Barnabas who went out of his way
to look for Saul to bring him to
the Church, may we search for those
who have opted to stay out from our 
circles to encourage them to join
the mainstream, to be involved in
spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ,
especially his truths now under
attack from people promoting modern
trends of heresies.
Gift us with the conviction and 
clarity of St. Athanasius who 
fought Arianism with such vigor and
passion until his death.
Amen.

Praying to find meaning of life in our work

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, 01 May 2023
Genesis 1:26-2:3   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Matthew 13:54-58
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
in giving us a share 
in your work in making
this world a better place;
despite our sinfulness and
turning away from you
in the time of Adam and Eve,
you still call us to participate
in your work of holiness
by calling St. Joseph to
marry the Blessed Virgin
Mary, the Mother of your Son
and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Despite the difficult situation
and work ahead of him, 
St. Joseph obeyed you,
working in silence,
doing your will, 
taking care of Jesus and Mary
that in his work, 
people recognized
Jesus!

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?”

Matthew 13:54-55
Like St. Joseph,
may we not find only
the labor and amount
of work to be done
in our tasks and jobs
but most of all,
that we may find
you in Jesus Christ,
the very meaning of 
our life and work.
Amen.