restoration

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 16 October 2026
Ephesians 1:11-14 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 12:1-7

*Photo by author, Bella Rosa Gardens, Silang, Cavite, 07 October 2026.*

What's happening in the world,
Lord where everyone seems to thrive 
in chaos?
Trash talks like cussings,
making fun of other people's
disabilities, smart shaming and
body shaming are so glorified and
imitated especially in social media;
many have no more sense of shame at all,
stretching their rights without any regard
for their responsibilities nor rights of others
that we are like in that gospel scene today:

At that time, so many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven – that is, hypocrisy – of the Pharisees (Luke 12:1).

Are we not like those
people crowding together,
already trampling just to hear you
speak, Jesus?

Give us the wisdom,
awaken us from our glorification of
everything that is crass and low,
giving only emphasis on the body
forgetting about the soul,
its dignity and value
along with virtues:
"I tell you,
 my friends,
do not be afraid of those
who kill the body
but after that can do no more"
(Luke 12:4).

Let us see St. Paul's
alternative vision for the world
in which God's plan is to restore
all things in you, Christ;
let us see more the love and 
mercy you have lavished upon us
when you suffered and died 
on the Cross to save us,
rising from the dead on the third day
to reconcile us to the Father 
and with everyone;
how consoling that we are
not our own,
that despite the chaos 
and darkness all over us these days,
"In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with purpose of
the one who accomplishes all things
according to the intention of his will...
were sealed with the Holy Spirit"
(Ephesians 1:11, 13).

How lovely are
these words, Lord!
May we be like St. Paul
in proclaiming to this sick and dark world
that there is an alternative, 
better vision of the world 
from the Father
in Christ Jesus.
Give us the courage to work on this,
to cooperate with your grace in
showing the world 
life is so beautiful!
Amen.

God our loving Father, thank you for this blessed season in Lent; grant me the true spirit of fasting, of emptying my self of my pride and sins to be filled with your Spirit, with your word, with your love and justice; in my fasting and self-emptying, help me create a space within that shall restore my broken relationships with you, with others, and even with my true self.

Show me, Lord Jesus
those "bonds of injustice"
and "thongs of the yoke"
you are calling me
to undo;
it is so easy to identify
the many injustices
and oppression
happening in the society
that are indications
of the very inequalities
I do against my family members,
to those in my close circle of friends
and those around me.

Category: restoration

Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Lent is restoring our broken relationships