Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 16 October 2025 Thursday, Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin Romans 3:21-30 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 11:47-54
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, May 2018.
If there is one thing I could wish from you, Lord Jesus, at this very moment after hearing your words to sit beside you, just be with you to feel you - are you angry with us? Or mad, at least disappointed?
I feel afraid and worried, Lord.
The Lord said: “Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.” When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say (Luke 11:52-53).
You are not only filled with courage and wisdom but very bold to express them; how I wish, Lord, I could have that grace to truly speak my heart out, to express what the Father had sent me to proclaim, to disturb the complacent and corrupt, the indifferent and self-righteous among us; or, at least, grant me Lord the diplomacy and formality of St. Paul who was very much like you in proclaiming the truth boldly and courageously.
Let me sit more often in your silence and feelings, Jesus; let your salvation be manifested in me without any tinge of boasting except only in your most holy name. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 12 October 2025 Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C 2 Kings 5:14-17 ><}}}}*> 2 Timothy 2:8-13 ><}}}}*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by author, view of Israel from Mt. Nebo, Jordan, May 2019.
Our gospel setting this Sunday strikes a deep lasting impression on anyone who had been on a Holy Land pilgrimage: of those vast expanse of desert in Israel where dusty roads have been replaced by modern concrete or asphalted roads.
Perhaps the feelings remain the same today and during the time of Jesus when he and the Twelve were near the border between Samaria and Galilee, several figures who turned out to be ten lepers appeared at a distance, waving their hands to the Lord. It must have been a surprising sight, then and now, of being found in the desert. Imagine the desperation in their voices of those ten lepers, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” (Lk.17:13).
Jesus right away told them to go show themselves to the priests, and as they went, they were healed. But only one—a Samaritan—returned to thank Jesus who wondered aloud: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (Lk.17:17-19).
“The Healing of Ten Lepers” painting by James Tissot en.wikipedia.org
Last Sunday we reflected that faith is primarily a relationship with God; hence, its powers or efficacy will work only when aligned with God and his Holy Will. We will never know how strong we have grown in faith until we get into tests and trials. That is why, the need for us to imitate the Twelve in praying to Jesus, “Increase our faith” (Lk.17:5).
We grow best in faith when we worship God with our fellow believers in the celebration of the Holy Mass especially on Sundays which is our Sabbath. More than a day of rest, Sabbath is a day of restoration to God, with others and most of all, with one’s self. It is a return to Eden, a dress rehearsal of our entry into heaven to dwell in God’s presence eternally.
This is where lies the beauty and significance of this healing of ten lepers – they were not only restored to health but restored in God, to their families, and to their community and fellow believers.
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2017.
Those ten lepers have never known any rest at all since getting afflicted with the disease for they were cut off from homes, worship, and community. That is why they could not get near Jesus as they have to keep their distance from everyone according to their laws in order to prevent infecting others and spreading the disease. Likewise, it was the very reason that anyone healed of leprosy or any serious sickness must first present themselves to the priests who have the sole authority to declare one has been healed and therefore may be allowed to reintegrate with their family and community or society in general. Being declared as healed of sickness like leprosy at that time meant the restoration of one’s rights to worship in the temple or synagogue especially on Sabbath.
When Jesus healed them, he restored more than just their bodies and physical health. In sending them to the priests, Jesus invited them into the wholeness of what the Sabbath really is like peace, inclusion, and dignity.
Or, salvation in short.
Sad to say, only one realized this when he returned to thank Jesus. The healed Samaritan leper knew and felt a deeper healing had taken place within him that he responded with heartfelt gratitude to God in Jesus. There was a deepening of his faith in Jesus when he decided to return to thank the Lord that also expressed his desire to enter into a relationship with Jesus.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Whenever we thank people for their kindness no matter how little that may be, it is more than acknowledging the other person but most of all, of expressing our links with them as well as our desire to be one with them, especially with God who showers us with good things daily. That is why the Mass is also called Eucharist – from the Greek eucharistia meaning “thanksgiving”. After his skin was cleansed of leprosy in the first reading, Naaman the Syrian Army General declared before the Prophet Elisha that he would worship the Lord alone as he returned to his home with two mule-loads of Israeli soil.
Sorry to say but whenever we refuse to celebrate the Mass on Sundays, it means that we are one of those nine ungrateful lepers healed by Jesus! Don’t you feel being called like the Samaritan to return and give thanks to Jesus for the many blessings you have received this Sunday?
See how in this age of faith in a mass-mediated culture that we have become so impersonal, trusting more our gadgets and all those apps like Siri and Waze as if we have already lost faith in the human person. And God.
Photo by Mr. Nicko Timbol, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, OLFU-RISE, Valenzuela City, 03 October 2025.
We spend practically our entire days in front of all kinds of screens than with the face of a human person. Again, this sadly extends to the way we worship with many still stuck in the pandemic mode of online Masses not realizing the important and irreplaceable aspect of personal encounter of Jesus in the actual Mass with other believers.
God remains God even if we do not go to Mass every Sunday. It is us who are losing greatly whenever we skip Sunday Masses, our Sabbath. God specifically made his third commandment to “Remember to keep holy the sabbath day” because Sabbath reminds us that life itself is holy in the first place, a sharing in the life of God. What a tremendous blessing still that even if we forget God or disregard God every Sunday, Paul reminds us today of the beautiful truth and reality that “If we have died with Jesus we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2Tim.2:11-13).
Can you imagine that? If we are unfaithful to Jesus, he remains faithful?
Every Sunday, Jesus tells us to “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” despite, in spite of our many sins and absences from the Sunday Masses in the past because he wants us to experience the deeper wholeness that comes with faith and gratitude as experienced by that Samaritan leper he had healed. As we continue to journey with Jesus toward Jerusalem facing many trials and sufferings along the way, he calls us to come to him in the Sunday Mass to deepen our faith by resting in his presence.
Is there a space in your life at this stage that you feel like one of those lepers, longing for healing and restoration? In the silence of this Sabbath day in our Sunday Mass, speak to Jesus especially after receiving him Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead! Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com).
Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela, June 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 26 September 2025 Friday, Memorial of Sts. Cosmas & Damian, Martyrs Haggai 2:1-9 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:18-22
Photo by author, the wailing wall of Jerusalem, May 2017.
God our loving Father, we praise and thank you for the magnificent places of worship we have for you, churches so beautiful, so wide to accommodate us especially on Sundays to praise and worship you; but, dear God, forgive us when we forget so often that its glory is not in us nor because of us but from your divine presence, in the presence of Jesus Christ not only in the Tabernacle but among the people as you have told us through Haggai your prophet.
For thus says the Lord of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with with glory, says the Lord of hosts (Haggai 2:6-7).
That prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ your Son, our Savior who now asks us daily with his same question to the Twelve: "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
Grant us the courage and strength you gave Peter as well as the early Christians to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ - something so subversive at that time, so dangerous as it disregarded the earthly rulers especially the Roman emperor; so much have changed, Lord in our time when the church has become so elaborately decorated like our faith but deep inside is hollow that no wonder we can't even profess your being Lord just before every meal especially in public places; grant us the same courage you gave the brothers Cosmas and Damian who treated the sick for free in your name, who dared the powers and stood firm in their faith in you. Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, March 2025
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 08 September 2025 Monday, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Romans 8:28-30 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 1:18-23
Photo from vaticannews.va
Hail, O blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God our Mother too! Praised be God our Father for your infinite love for us in preparing the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the Mother of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. In Mary, we find hope and inspiration in your plans, O God for us in this world marred by sin and evil.
Brothers and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
In her birth, we are reminded of our new beginnings in you, Lord Jesus: let us cooperate with you always, Jesus so that "all things may work for good for those who love God"; let us be the new beginning of faith and trust in you, Jesus like Mary who entrusted her total self to your providence in explaining everything to Joseph about your coming as our Savior; most of all, like Mary our Mother, let us be the new beginning of your loving presence among us, Jesus, our Emmanuel, the God among us. Amen.
Photo by author, Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, May 2017.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 04 September 2025 Thursday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Colossians 1:9-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:1-11
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7 News in Batanes, September 2018.
Today's gospel story of your first meeting with Simon reminds me of how your presence made a difference in my life when I finally said "yes" to your call to give my vocation to the priesthood a second chance in 1991 when I resigned from my job to enter the seminary again; it was pure joy at first that later became more intense, more deep and wonderful as the going got tough and rough; it was never easy following you, Jesus but you have never forsaken me since then until now though many times I have balked and even backed out from you as you kept telling me those same words you told Simon, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 5:10).
Fill me, Jesus, "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 nd growing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:9-10); teach me to trust you more by surrendering, giving up my total self to you so that I may continue casting my net into the deep; though I have given up a lot, I still feel I have not given up that much of myself to you - take away from me, Jesus whatever I still hold on deep inside, help me surrender myself to you totally so that I may know you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you most closely daily for it is in your presence when I am most fulfilled. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 01 September 2025 Monday, Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 4:16-30
Photo by author, Betania Tagaytay City, August 2018.
Hello, September! Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father for this new month: 30 days of life filled with surprises, 30 days to rejoice in you, 30 days to be better, 30 days to be one in you in Christ your Son our Lord; help us Jesus to imitate St. Paul in helping Christians how your death and resurrection shape our identity and future.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).
"we shall always be with the Lord."
Help me, Jesus to imitate Paul in encouraging one another that "we shall always be with you, Lord" especially when material things and worldly concerns shape my thoughts about the future; lately, I have been so concerned with the moral degradation that has worsened in the country that lately have been shaping my thoughts about the future too; Lord Jesus, help me, forgive me when things of the world shape my thoughts of the future even my identity as your disciple that in the process I fail to recognize your coming your presence in me and among us like your folks in Nazareth; let me feel anew your Spirit in me, Jesus, to let that same Spirit animate me like Paul so I could bring "glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).
Let me share in your paschal mystery, Jesus, to never lose sight of your Cross to find your Resurrection nearby, not the ways of the world that many times worsen our people's plight. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 18 August 2025
Photo by author, pilgrims awaiting their turn inside the Ascension site of Jesus outside Jerusalem, May 2019.
It has been a month since I have taken a break from my daily walking following that fall in our garage when I hurt my left knee that still aches to this day. But as I rested my onehod (twohod if both knees), I have realized in prayers that there are just two important steps we have to take for a fuller life instead of those 10,000 steps daily.
The first is to always step back one or two steps backwards and stop to make a space for God and for others in our life. Though life is a constant moving forward, it is essential that once in a while we step back and stop to see everything in ourselves and around us. Let God direct you because life is more of adjusting to the many shiftings and transitions that happen every day (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/11/god-in-our-many-transitions/). Stepping back is being flexible in life.
Since turning 18, we have all been taking charge of our lives, each of us demanding a driver’s license, but, as we approach the age of 60, our interest in driving wane that we prefer more to be a passenger than being on the steering wheel. I have semi-retired from driving last year as I leave my car behind six days a week to take ride-hailing and ride-sharing services. Aside from reasons of convenience, taking a Grab car makes me more productive and most of all, relaxed in getting to my destinations and back home.
When life is so confusing, so dark and you feel so lost, step back and stop. Many times in life what really happens is that we unconsciously eject God from our lives as we go on with our responsibilities and projects even apostolates and ministry thinking we are doing the work of God. The moment things go wrong, when failures and problems happen, we then question God where he is or why did he allow bad things to happen with us. Truth is, God never left us, has always been with us but we never recognized him because we were so busy. Hence, the need to step back and stop to meet him. Finally.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land… The Lord then said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give to your descendants, I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over.” So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died as the Lord had said (Deuteronomy 34:1, 4).
See how Moses was portrayed in the first readings last week, slowly stepping back from the daily scene among the Israelites in the wilderness as he passed leadership to Joshua his successor. It is perhaps the earliest account in the Bible of the virtue of “ageing gracefully” in the Lord by Moses.
It is a virtue so needed these days in modern time that Pope Benedict XVI taught us in 2013 when he resigned, taking that bold step backward to stop from his active duties to spend the rest of his life in prayers. That move proved beyond doubts the true humility and holiness of Pope Benedict XVI who peacefully died right at the transition of the year on December 31, 2022.
Not only successions proceed smoothly when we learn to step back and stop as seen in Moses and Pope Benedict. Stepping back to stop and allow God to do his work among us strengthen and make better our human relationships often strained by those into sin and evil. See these as the steps proposed by Jesus in his instructions when one commits sin:
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone… If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15,16-17).
Relationships are shattered when we “overstep” on family and friends into sinful situations where stepping backward is the more prudent choice to take. Stepping backward allows us to learn more the situation and avoid making rash judgments against anyone that often starts, then gets aggravated in social media. Stepping back is not just being circumspect at all but simply trying to be more fair and accurate where social media is filled with inaccurate and totally false reports or fake news.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2023.
The second important step that literally brings us closer to God and others is taking that first bold step into water. Yes. Stepping on water is the other special step we need to learn and make for a fuller life in God.
Recall whenever you go swimming at the pool or the beach. There is always that someone in the family or among friends or even our very self so timid or wary of the cold water who would ask that stupid question, is the water cold?
Of course – you will never know how cold the water in the pool or the sea until you take that plunge! It may sound simple but, many times we are afraid to take the first step forward into any body of water or even the shower due to the chills that quickly follow. But we also know very well from experience the great feelings that come after every plunge into water!
The spiritual value of making this crucial step forward into water is found in the first reading last Thursday at the crossing of the Jordan River by the Israelites into the Promised Land under Joshua. Leading them were the priests carrying the ark of the covenant who took the first steps on the banks of Jordan River that caused it to part and enabled the people to cross into the other side, reminiscent of the crossing of the Red Sea during their exodus from Egypt with Moses (https://lordmychef.com/2025/08/14/praying-to-step-forward-in-christ/).
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
The people struck their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them. No sooner had these priestly bearers of the ark waded into the waters at the edge of the Jordan…than the waters flowing from upstream halted, backing up in a solid mass for every great distance indeed… while those flowing downstream toward the Salt Sea of the Arabah disappeared entirely. Thus the people crossed over opposite Jericho (Joshua 3:14-15, 16).
Water is life but it also evokes death at the same time. Too much water can drown and kill us that is why we are afraid to take the first step forward into the river or the sea. We fear, we doubt even mistrust God, others and our self in taking the first step forward into water without realizing how that step could be the only thing left for us to move on in life. Stepping into water and allowing our feet to get wet in order to cross a stream or a river is one of the boldest moves we can make in life because that could be the very moment when God is actually making a way for us when our usual routes are impassable.
That is why I tried linking that first reading with the story of the saint of that day, St. Maximilian Kolbe (August 14) who “stepped forward” to their prison guards to take the place of a married man to be executed as a punishment following the escape of a prisoner at Auschwitz. Like the priests of Joshua, St. Maximilian carried the ark of the covenant – Jesus Christ – inside the gas chambers that ignited the flames of courage and faith in God to other prisoners at that time.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
These days, we need more men and women of faith, hope and love in God willing to step forward into waters that can be dark and murky, even lethal with unknown substances like the modern miseries of human trafficking, substance abuse, sex slavery, extreme poverty and other systematic inhuman conditions that now afflict mankind. Taking that bold step into water carrying Christ across the river is enabling the others to pass through from death to life, from grief to joy, and from hopelessness to love.
Pray for us your priests in the Diocese of Malolos as we go on retreat today until Thursday that we may truly step backwards and stop these days to let God take charge of our lives and ministry anew. Most of all, that we may have the grace of fervor and courage to carry and follow Jesus in crossing the many rivers and streams of life when the usual routes are impassable due to sickness and other miseries. Amen. Have a fulfilling week ahead.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 01 August 2025 Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Matthew 13:54-58
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 2018.
Thank you, dear Father for the past seven months as we welcome August on our final five months of the year; forgive us that we keep watch of the changing of seasons without seeing or even remembering you present; you have set the changing seasons through rains and sunshine, snows and darkness in some places, falling of leaves and spring everywhere as reminders of your loving presence among us as you had instructed Moses of the different festivals to remember you in the Book of Leviticus.
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual, the Swiss Alps, August 2019.
More sad dear Father is when your Son Jesus Christ came to live among us so we can truly experience you, the more we have turned away from you; until now that incident in Nazareth continues in many places in the world most esepcially right in our hearts.
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? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him (Matthew 13:54-57).
Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me when sometimes I make it difficult, even challenging to believe in you; please be patient with me. Help me in my unbelief especially when you are so near so real so true to celebrate you always. Amen.
Photo from Fatima Tribune, Red Wednesday, Angel of Peace Chapel, RISE Tower, OLFU-Valenzuela City, 27 November 2024.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 30 July 2025 Exodus 34:29-35 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 13:44-46
Photo by author, sunrise in Laurel, Batangas, February 2025.
God our Father, it has been quite a long time since these rains started and how I miss seeing the sun rising in the morning like your face appearing before me; how I love arising early in the morning to experience the sunrise that I imagine as closest to the experience of Moses conversing with you, Lord, face to face like two friends; in the sunrise I find and experience the paradox of you, of your presence in absence, when you seem "veiled" to me and everyone.
When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded. Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the Lord (Exodus 34:33-35).
"Nobody sees your face, O Lord, and lives again" because to see your face is our final fulfillment in life; to see your face like Moses and still live is to live "veiled" in your mystery that eyes cannot see but the heart and soul can feel and recognize; you come to us, Lord, "veiled" in many instances like the sunrise when I cannot see your face fully and directly like the sun but the more I look at you, the more I experience you in me, the more I become aware of my own face created in your image and likeness; show me your face, God, not as an image but as a reality inside me so that like Moses, your kindness and love may shine in me always, living authentically, living fully in your loving presence, veiled in the mystery and beauty of your kingdom buried like a treasure in the field or like a pearl of great price I would never trade for anything except you in Jesus. Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise over the Pacific from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Resort, Infanta, Quezon, March 2023.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 20 July 2025 Sunday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle C Genesis 18:1-10 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:24-28 ><}}}*> Luke 10:38-42
Photo by author, Tagaytay City, February 2023.
After telling us what we must do to inherit eternal life through his parable of the Good Samaritan last Sunday, Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem with his disciples with a stop over today in the home of the sisters Martha and Mary.
The visit became an occasion for Jesus – the Good Samaritan – to expound on the more important things we his disciples must “do” as exemplified in the contrasting attitudes of the two sisters.
“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Johannes Vermeer (1654) from en.wikipedia.org.
Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary had chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:38-42).
This is the third consecutive Sunday Jesus gives us the top things we his disciples must always “do”: two Sundays ago he instructed us to represent him well by greeting everyone with peace while proclaiming that the kingdom of God is at hand (14th Sunday); last week, Jesus asked us to consider everyone especially those in need as a “neighbor” with whom we must show mercy at all times.
Today’s teaching of Jesus is of capital importance in this series on discipleship before the Lord caps it next Sunday with the very foundation of discipleship which is prayer.
An icon of Jesus visiting his friends, the siblings Sts. Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Photo from crossroadsinitiative.com.
"Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said..."
Only Luke has this unique story in the home of Martha and Mary.
Far from the simplistic views of a distinction between “contemplative” and “active” approaches in discipleship, Luke invites us not only to enter the home of Martha and Mary but most of all our Lord and Master Jesus Christ to experience and realize the deeper realities of being his disciple.
There is more at issue here than a conflict of duties of listening to the Word like Mary and doing the work like Martha. Jesus is not telling us to be like Mary listening more to the word – and forget all about the work to be done and accomplished? Not at all.
Jesus reproached Martha for being anxious and upset about many things in life that she had forgotten the more essential which is to listen to Christ himself.
Luke’s gospel teems with instances where we find Jesus warning his disciples against being overwhelmed with cares of the world like in the parable of the sower where he mentioned those seeds that fell among thorns were choked by the anxieties and pleasures of the world that they failed to be fruitful (Lk.8:14). In chapter 12 we find Jesus twice repeating in asking his disciples “not to worry” on how to answer their persecutors for the Holy Spirit will teach them (Lk.12:11-12) and immediately after that, “not to worry” again about what to eat or wear for life is more than food and body is more than clothing (Lk.12:22-23). There are many other instances in all gospel accounts we find Jesus denouncing too much focus on things of the world that are passing and worst, detract us his disciples in confessing faith in him as the Christ who had come and will come again at the end of time.
“Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary”, painting by Erasmus Quellinus II and Jan Fyt (1650) from en.wikipedia.org. See the folly of Martha’s worries and distractions with the enormous amount of food being prepared.
Jesus clarifies in the example of Mary that the first priority of every disciple is to listen to the Word who is himself. More than the division of time allotted for “contemplation” and “action” by every disciple, Jesus reminds us that the more we listen to him, the more we do his work; and the more we do his work, the more we desire to return to him and listen again and again to him.
Contemplation and action always go together. We cannot overdo the other and neglect the other. The moment we make a distinction between the two, problems arise like what we find in the church.
When priests and bishops concentrate only in contemplation, oblivious to the social conditions of the people, their proclamation of the Gospel is diluted as they fail to represent well Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. When they are so immersed into social action and advocacies, business endeavors including entertainment in the Mass without contemplation, Christ is detached from the whole picture that people could no longer see nor feel the spiritual nature of the Church with everything becoming a show, empty of any sense of the divine and sacred. In both instances of abuses, either of contemplation or action in the Church, it is her credibility that is eroded as the Body of Christ with a growing number of the faithful disillusioned with priests and bishops more identified with the rich and powerful.
"There is need of only one thing."
Abraham in today’s first reading showed us the most beautiful example of discipleship. Like Martha, Abraham was also gracious in receiving his visitors at Mamre believed to be the Blessed Trinity in the form of angels; but, unlike Martha who was so concerned with her chores that she had forgotten Jesus, Abraham was intently focused on his visitors as “he waited on them under the tree while they ate” (Gen.18:8).
Like Mary listening at the feet of Jesus, Abraham was fully present in God while in Mamre. That is discipleship – to have that full presence in the Lord which is the “only one thing needed” of us which is to receive God’s gift of himself to us, of his Word who became flesh Jesus Christ who enables us to do his works by first recognizing him in ourselves and in one another as our neighbor.
This is the reason why even inside prison, St. Paul felt Jesus Christ’s coming and presence that he rejoiced in his sufferings as part of his ministry in proclaiming Christ as the hope for glory (Col.1:24, 27).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2025.
Last week I read in one of the blogs I follow by an American nun, of how she attended many years ago to a delivery man who died of a heart attack in the ER of a Philadelphia hospital. Part of her ministry was to gather the things found in the chest pocket of the man’s shirt so she could inform the relatives of his death: there was a well-used prayer book, a thin wallet with a few dollars inside, a lottery ticket and a picture of his grandchildren. It was so touching how she narrated these simple things found in the man’s chest pocket as those closest to his heart (https://lavishmercy.com/2025/07/12/the-amoroso-man/).
That hit me so hard because even in this age of smartphones, I still carry a little notebook and pen in my chest pocket where I write my schedules as well as occasional notes on everything I notice and read. Deep inside me after reading that blog, I wondered where is Jesus Christ in all those notes and activities in my pocket notebook closest to my heart.
Dearest Lord Jesus, make me fully present before you always, even in my activities and distractions for it is only in you I am fulfilled. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City
lordmychef.com 