rebuild

How lovely to hear
those words of St. Paul
in these times of great divisions
among us not only in politics
but in almost every topic!
What is most painful,
O Lord Jesus Christ is how
some among us have become
numb and callous of each other,
unmindful of things they say
especially of those suffering
and in pain; with the little cellphone
each of us holding so addictively
the whole day, we have created our
own self-centered world
totally unmindful of others.

On this Feast of your
two great Apostles,
St. Simon and St. Jude
who were poles apart
in their differences
as persons and backgrounds,
may we realize that we are not
"strangers and sojourners"
but are" fellow citizens",
and "members of the
household of God" in you,
Jesus Christ who is at the center
of this household as cornerstone.

Help us, Lord Jesus,
to imitate Sts. Simon and Jude
who built up your Church,
your household of God here on earth;
fill our hearts with the zeal
and ardent love for you
and your Church like Simon
called the Zealot:
in this time when Catholics
in the country are declining
in numbers as well as in professing
their faith, may we have the enthusiasm
to make you known, Jesus,
in our loving actions of witnessing;
grant us also the strength,
clarity and courage like that of
St. Jude Thaddeus in dealing with
the many contradictions of the world
we live in today as Catholics and
Christians:
"But you, beloved,
build yourselves up on your
most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
keep yourselves in the love of God;
wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life.
And convince some,
who doubt..." (Jude 20-22).

Bless us, dearest Jesus,
through the help St. Simon and
St. Jude, to rediscover
the beauty of our Christian
faith and of our Catholic Church
by working hard to build it up
without tiring through our silent
and peaceful witnessing
of the Gospel.
Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 24 September 2025
Wednesday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Ezra 9:5-9     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 9:1-6

Residents of Hagonoy Bulacan walk their way to flooded portions of premise surrondings St. Anne Parish as they protest this was following exposes of flood control anomalies. Bulacan province has been under scrutiny for receiving multi million worth of flood control projects but still suffers severe flooding. (Photo by Michael Varcas)

God our loving Father,
today I feel like Ezra,
praying filled with
shame
sadness
and hopes
at how we can
rebuild,
repair
and create
in you something good
for our country.

“My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven… And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the Lord our God, who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place; thus our God has brightened our eyes and given us relief in our servitude… in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins, and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 9:6, 8, 9).

Like Israel of Ezra's time,
your know so well,
God our Father
how our country
the Philippines
had always been guilty
of putting into power
corrupt and evil men and women
without any respect for you and
your people especially the poor
and suffering;
as a nation, we have always
been fragmented
not only among each other
but within ourselves,
doing things contrary
to your precepts
that corruption in government
had sunk deeper
into wholesale looting
of government money and resources
at the expense of the poor
and suffering.

Scene at a wedding inside the flooded Barasoain Church in Malolos City, 22 July 2025; photo by *Aaron Favila of Associated Press.*

We are all angry.
Very angry, God our Father
for the shameless
people tasked to provide
us with infrastructures
and services that are
either non-existent or
substandard
because they have
looted the funds!

But, help us,
Lord,
how we shall go from
here in
rebuilding our nation,
our government,
our institutions 
including the Church
where some parishes
as well as priests
are beneficiaries
of the stolen money;
how can we repair
not only the buildings
but the lives of those
destroyed and humiliated
and how can we create
a more just
and humane
society in Christ Jesus
so that this systematic
corruption
is finally 
put into end.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

Category: rebuild

Household of God

Rebuild, repair, create in God