The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Martha, 29 July 2020
1 John 4:7-16 >><}}}*> ))+(( <*{{{><< John 11:19-27
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 2018.
Thank you very much Lord Jesus Christ is sending us holy women like St. Martha whose Memorial we celebrate today. Seven days ago we celebrated the feast of her younger sister St. Mary Magdalene.
How nice of you coming to visit families, even calling brothers and sisters as your disciples like St. Peter and St. Andrew, St. James the Greater and St. John, and now, St. Martha and her siblings St. Mary and St. Lazarus.
What a beautiful reminder for us today so busy with other people like friends and clients and everybody else except family: that you always come first in the family, among husband and wife, parents and. children, and siblings.
Most of all, in the life of St. Martha, you remind us of the need to be present in you and with you every time you come for a visit.
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
John 11:23-27
Many times, Lord Jesus, you come to us to be present with us but we are always absent from you like St. Martha.
Like her, so often we are working for you, doing for you, so busy because of you without realizing you prefer us to be doing your work by first being present in you.
There are times, we overthink of your words and of your thoughts we forget the present moment like when you told St. Martha that her brother Lazarus would rise again: we believe in our minds than in our hearts that we look more into the future than in the present moment when our departed loved ones can be truly present with us in you.
As we keep ourselves preoccupied with so many tasks here on earth, teach us also, sweet Jesus like St. Martha that in the resurrection of the dead, we shall all be present in you and with you as the one serving us all in the heavenly banquet. May we choose wisely what is most important like her sister St. Mary. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 25 July 2020
Santiago de Compostela in Spain is one of the world’s oldest and most popular pilgrim sites where the body of the Apostle St. James the Greater whose feast we are celebrating today is believed to be buried in its beautiful cathedral.
I have not been there yet and despite COVID-19’s disruption of air travel expected to last until 2022, my hope remains that someday in God’s time I may finally do the “el camino de Santiago de Compostela” (the way of Saint James of Compostela), too.
But, with or without the el camino de Santiago de Compostela, this great Apostle from the very beginning had always been in a journey in himself into the kingdom of God – Jesus Christ – by showing us the way of transformation into a true disciple of the Lord.
He is called the Greater not because he is holier than the other St. James called “the Lesser”, son of Alpheus, but to simply indicate the different importance they received in the writings of the New Testament. In the gospel of Mark, he comes in second in the list after Peter while in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, he is ranked third after the brothers Peter and Andrew; he again comes in third in the Acts of the Apostles after St. Peter and his brother St. John.
It is from this book where we also learn St. James the Greater as the first bishop of the original Christian community in Jerusalem that during the persecution by King Herod Agrippa in 40 AD, he also became the first Apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:1-2).
His martyr’s death thus fulfilled Christ’s words to him that he would indeed “drink from his chalice” to be with him in his Kingdom, a journey that essentially began within this great apostle after leaving everything behind to follow Jesus.
The journey within self to Jesus Christ
St. James the Greater and his brother St. John the Evangelist and believed to be the same beloved disciple came from a middle class family with both parents still alive and most likely, very supportive of them as attested by some little anecdotes in the gospel accounts.
Money was never an issue for them because their father Zebedee could hire workers to work in their fishing business. He must have sighed with a great relief when James and John immediately left him after being called by Jesus to be his disciples.
Marker along the “el camino de Santiago de Compostela”.
Finally, his sons have found some directions in life following Jesus who was getting known then in Galilee as a powerful and credible Teacher unlike the Pharisees and scribes.
Jesus nicknamed James and John as Boanerges for “Sons of thunder” (Mk.3:17) due to their temperament like when they proposed that they send fire to burn a Samaritan town that have refused them passage during their journey to Jerusalem (Lk.9:54).
They have seen and experienced the tremendous powers of Jesus not only in preaching but most especially in calming the storms, walking on sea, exorcising evil spirits, healing all kinds of sickness, and even raising to life some who have died.
Most of all, St. James the Greater was privileged to witness along with his brother and St. Peter the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor, seeing all the glory of Christ conversing with Moses and Elijah. It was after this major event that their most controversial episode would occur when their mother came to ask Jesus that James and John be seated “one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom” (Mt.20:21).
The other ten Apostles “grew indignant” of the brothers James and John for being so ambitious but Jesus summoned them and explained things which all of them would heed except for one:
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be also among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give is life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:25-28
This took place shortly before Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem.
A few days later on the evening of Holy Thursday, Jesus again brought St. James the Greater with his brother St. John and St. Peter to accompany him pray at Gethsemane where Judas Iscariot eventually betrayed him to his enemies.
A pilgrim hugging from the back the statue of Santiago de Compostela after completing his el camino.
Here we find St. James the Greater being present to two major stops in Jesus Christ’s journey to the Calvary: first, on Mount Tabor for his Transfiguration and second, at Gethsemane for his agony in the garden. In both events in the life of our Lord, St. James the Greater was a privileged witness, first of his coming glory and then of his passion and death.
It would only be after Easter and the Pentecost when all these major stops in his personal journey with Christ when everything would become clear to him and the other Apostles.
All along their journey from the shores of Galilee to Jerusalem, St. James the Greater remained by the side of Jesus Christ, probably unaware of another journey with the Lord taking place right inside his heart to truly be a part of his Kingdom by sharing in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
For his faithful adherence to Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, St. James the Greater again had the rare privilege like at Mount Tabor and Gethsemane in being the first to die as a martyr proclaiming the Gospel of Christ which is the meaning of the expression of “drinking from the chalice” of the Lord.
Sometimes in life, we just have to make “sakay” as my generation used to say, “sakay lang ng sakay” or “ride on, man, ride on” without really knowing where our trip would lead us. St. James just made “sakay” without knowing Jesus was already fulfilling his wish of “drinking from his chalice”.
Photo by Fr. Gener Garcia, sculpture of a pilgrim’s feet at Santiago de Compostela museum, 2019.
St. James the Greater was truly great not because of the distances in miles or kilometers he had covered with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem and all the way to Compostela in Spain; we honor him today because of that great journey he had undertaken within him, in his heart to remain always at the side of Christ even if had to smoothen his many rough edges as a person, and cleanse his heart as a sinner like us.
That is the most important journey we are all taking in this life, the journey within us.
The longest journey in life is the distance between the heart and the mind.
Former UN Sec.Gen Dag Hammarskjold in “Markings”
My friend Fr. Gener Garcia last year went to Santiago de Compostela to follow the el camino with our kababayan Bishop Bart Santos of Iba, Zambales and Fr. Jaypee Avila assigned as a chaplain for OFW’s in Milan, Italy.
He is so generous to share with us his photos of their pilgrimage as well as his experiences and realizations in life. According to him, on the four sides of the sculpture of the pilgrim’s feet in front of the museum of Santiago de Compostela is the following quotation:
Marker along the el camino de Santiago de Compostela.
Camino recto, camino erguido, camino buscando un sentido. Camino porque tengo un objetivo, y no parare hasta alcanzar mi destino.
(I walk straight, I walk upright, I walk looking for meaning. I walk with a purpose and I won’t stop until I meet my destiny.)
The pilgrim’s journey is the same one you and I are on. Know your goals and understand your challenges. Face them head-on, tackle them with intention, and never give up.
Do you know what your purpose in life is? What would you say if someone ask you what your destiny was?
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle, 25 July 2020
2 Corinthians 4:7-15 ><}}}*> >><}}}*> >>><}}}*> Matthew 20:20-28
Facade of “Santiago de Compostela” in Spain in honor of St. James the Greater. Photo courtesy of Fr. Gener Garcia during their “El Camino de Santiago de Compostela”, May 09 to June 05, 2019.
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ who had called and given us the Apostles as foundations of your Holy Church as we celebrate today the feast of St. James the Greater, the first bishop of Jerusalem and the first among the Twelve to die a martyr.
In him, O Lord, you gave us an image of hope in you, of how we can grow in holiness in you.
Through St. James the Greater, you have shown us your kindness in joining us in our earthly pilgrimage, slowly making us realize how we must adhere to you more closely to finally make it to our final destination in your kingdom in heaven.
Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Matthew 20:22-23
Your kindness is very evident, sweet Jesus.
I really wonder how you felt when the mother of James and John asked you that her sons be seated “one at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom” (Mt.20:21).
You were so kind to simply tell her and her sons, “You do not know what you are asking.”
Photo by Fr. Gener Garcia, image of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, 2019.
So many times, Lord, like St. James, we ask so many things from you, even demanding from you in exchange of what we believe as too great we have given you. You perfectly know so well that we do not know what we are asking at all. You know how we are blinded by fame and honor, power and wealth – things that do not matter at all in your kingdom.
You are so gentle in reminding us about the deeper realities of life, of discipleship by simplifying your demands, “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” to which we are often so naive, even oblivious for good reasons. Primarily because, we really do not know what we are asking.
And that’s when you are kindest of all, sweet Jesus: like with St. James and his brother St. John, you invite us “to drink the chalice you are drinking” by assuring us it can be done, that it is very possible, that in fact, that is the greatest honor of being with you, to drink from your chalice – without letting us know right away what it meant! St. John eventually realized and wholly accepted what you meant of drinking in your chalice when he became the first to share in your passion and death during the persecution by King Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1-1).
Slowly, you make us realize too what is to drink in your chalice as we continue life’s journey with you, most especially into our inner self where we eventually find and rest in you when the goings get tough and rough.
It is total kindness on your part Lord to show us the beauty of sharing a meal with you, of sharing in your mission, of sharing in your life and most especially of sharing in your death that we make it with you to your kingdom.
Like St. James the Greater, continue to be kind with us, Lord, accompanying us in this journey.
In the same manner, make us kind to one another too like St. James the Greater who offered his life for the early church, for being the first to drink from your chalice. Amen.
Photo by Fr. Gener Garcia, marker along the “El Camino de Santiago de Compostela”, 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2020
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 >><}}}*> >><}}}*> >><}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
Painting by Giotto of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ appearing to St. Mary Magdalene from commons.wikimedia.org.
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:
Today as I prayed on the feast of your beloved Saint Mary Magdalene, my sights were focused on your beautiful exchange of names on that Easter morning at your tomb.
It is so lovely and so deep, and very personal for all of us whom you love so much despite our many sins like St. Mary Magdalene.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
John 20:14-16
You called her by her name, “Mary” and she called you by your title “Rabbouni” – what a beautiful scene of two people loving each other so deeply, so truly! You – humbly and lovingly accepting the sinner, and she – submitting herself to you as disciple.
You have expelled seven demons from her, you have known her so well even her darkest secrets and sins, and despite all these knowledge, Lord Jesus, the more you have loved her that you called her by the sweetest word she could ever hear in her life, “Mary”.
The same with us, sweet Jesus: every day you call us by our names, each one of us as a person, an individual, a somebody not just a someone. You love us so much in spite and despite of everything. We are not just a number or a statistic to you but a person with whom you relate personally.
From Google.
Help us to realize this specially when darkness surrounds us, when self-doubts and mistrust abound in us without realizing your deep trust in us, in our ability to rise again in you and follow you.
Teach me to trust you more and love you more like St. Mary Magdalene, to give and offer my self to you totally as yours, calling you “Rabbouni” or Teacher and Master.
Let me give up whatever I still keep to myself, whatever I refuse to surrender so that I may enjoy the intimacy you offer me as a friend, a beloved, and a family in the Father.
What a joy indeed to be like St. Mary Magdalene, fully known and fully loved by you, dear Jesus.
May I learn to know and love others too like you so I may proclaim you to them. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor, 15 July 2020
Isaiah 10:5-7 >><)))*> >><)))*> >><)))*> Matthew 11:25-27
Photo by author, Pyramids of Egypt, May 2019.
Praise and glory to you, O Jesus Christ! With you we praise God our Father, Lord of heaven and earth, in revealing to the little ones your power and majesty, hiding these from the wise and learned of this world.
Thank you for the gift of faith and simplicity, dear Jesus, in making us find in our smallness and sinfulness your love and mercy, your presence and comfort especially in this time of the pandemic when so much pride and power trip are going on not only in our country but also abroad when almost everyone is claiming to be the best and the brightest, of knowing everything.
Just like during the time when Assyria was threatening Israel and Judah, lording it over smaller nations and kingdoms, forgetting there is a God above us all.
Remind anew the proud and arrogant among us today that they are not gods, that they are nothing, that you O God is always above for you are the Lord of heaven and earth.
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, or a staff him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire.
Isaiah 10:15-16
Teach us, dear Jesus, to be like St. Bonaventure who showed us true wisdom and brilliance shine best in sharing in your pasch or passover by journeying with you in your pains and sufferings in order to see the Father.
Most of all, teach us to follow you more closely as your disciples, desiring only you so we may share you with others especially those suffering and those forgotten not only by their loved ones but even by the society. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest, 14 July 2020
Isaiah 7:1-9 <*(((><< ] + [ >><)))*> Matthew 11:20-24
Fire at the Pandacan Church, 10 July 2020.
O God our Father, we are in a war.
A war between good and evil, between light and darkness, sanity and insanity.
It is a war long been raging within us that I fear must have reached a stalemate because of our indecision, of our indifference. Some battles may have been won but the war rages on because we have refused to make a gallant stand for you.
Banish our fears, assure us with your same words to King Ahaz of Judah when threatened with simultaneous attacks by his neighboring kingdoms:
Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands… Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!
Isaiah 7:4, 9
Sometimes, our faith waver especially at how things are now going on among us like divisions and confusions due to lack of clear leadership in government while many of us in the church are in disarray.
Make us realize that there is a day of reckoning for all our sins, for taking side with the enemies, for refusing to stand for what is true and just when Jesus Christ reproached Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who refused to recognize his works of salvation when he came.
May we learn from the experience and lessons of St. Camillus de Lellis who was a soldier addicted to gambling but later converted to follow Jesus as a priest taking care of the sick, realizing the need for us to grow in holy charity. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr, 06 July 2020
Hosea 2:16, 17-18, 21-22 >><)))*> >><)))*> >><)))*> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by author, procession cross, 2019.
Today, O God our loving Father, your words have invited me to reflect about “separations” — something we are always afraid of, sometimes beyond our control, but one thing for sure, many times needed in life.
Usually, we dread separations because it means being detached, being away from people we love or, situations we are familiar with.
Like with death, the ultimate separation in this life.
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples.
Matthew 9:18-19
Death as a separation is most painful when committed in cold blood, like the martyrdom of the young St. Maria Goretti who was only 12 years old when an older neighbor stabbed her to death in their home near Ancona, Italy after she had refused to give in to his sexual advances in 1902.
Death as a separation is painful and sad because it is “the end” in our running story, when we lose somebody so special, so close to us with whom we have special plans and dreams to be together but suddenly gone.
Sickness and diseases also separate us from others.
Often, people regard sickness as a kind of slow death. And here lies its agonizing pain when due to some medical conditions we are separated from others, unable to fully interact and relate with them even if they are near us. Its worst part is how we can only look from afar at the activities and things going on among our brothers and sisters because we are bedridden, stuck on a wheelchair, disabled, or sometimes deep inside us cannot fully integrate because of the sickness within like bleeding or some form of cancer or deafness.
A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Matthew 9:20-21
Thank you for sending us your Son Jesus Christ who have not only come to lead us to life eternal but also to heal our sickness and mediate in bridging the gaps among us and within us.
By giving himself on the Cross, Jesus has made us whole again, brought us together in unity both in time and eternity for nothing can now separate us from you and from others through his immense love poured upon his death.
Photo by author, Petra in Jordan, 2019.
Give us the grace, O Lord of heaven and earth, to seek and follow your voice always, that sometimes, we on our own separate from our daily routines, from others to be one with you in the desert so we may know you more, love you more and follow you more.
Thus says the Lord: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt. I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord.
Hosea 2:16, 17, 22
There are still other forms of separations we experience in life, both good and bad.
Grant us the grace of courage, dear God our Father, to face every separation in life we experience, whether good or bad, permanent or temporary, our choice or imposed upon us — always trusting in the uniting power of your Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, 03 July 2020
Ephesians 2:19-22 >><)))*> <*(((><< >><)))*> <*(((><< John 20:24-29
Thank you very much, dearest Jesus, in founding your church upon your Apostles who were all like us: full of flaws and weaknesses, faults and failures, sins and imperfections.
Every time we celebrate their feasts, you remind us of your call to be near you like the Apostles despite our sins and inadequacies, to be sorry and make amends to return to you to be built into a dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Help us, Lord Jesus, to be like St. Thomas your Apostle who came but doubted, returned and saw you a week later and believed, declaring “My Lord and my God” upon seeing you.
But what did St. Thomas really see that he believed?
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and out it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:27
Through St. Thomas, you have blessed us and helped us, dear Jesus to believe in you not in seeing your face but more in seeing and feeling your wounds.
How wonderful, O Lord!
It is not your face but your wounds that enable us to recognize you and believe in you.
We will never see your face in this lifetime, Lord, but every day in our trials and sufferings, in our pains and hurts, in our wounds and woundedness, in our brokenness — there you are most present in us and among us.
Heighten our awareness of your presence, to accept pains and sufferings for your love and mercy so we may deepen our faith in you, following you always in your path of the Cross.
Like St. Thomas, may we follow you closely at your Cross, offering ourselves like you to be broken and shared so that in our wounds and woundedness, others may find healing, most especially you, sweet Jesus. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles, 29 June 2020
Acts of the Apostles 12:1-11 >><)))*> 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 <*(((><< Matthew 16:13-19
Photo from americamagazine.org.
As I prepared to celebrate today’s Solemnity of the two pillars of the Church you have established, Lord Jesus Christ, that image of your Vicar and St. Peter’s successor, Pope Francis delivering his extraordinary Urbi et Orbi message last March 27, 2020 before an empty St. Peter’s Square flashed into my mind, something like a deja vu.
It is a holy deja vu, Lord, of St. Peter’s experience in prison on a Sunday night…
In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them… he proceeded to arrest Peter also – it was the feast of the Unleavened Bread – he had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after the Passover. Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the Church was fervently being made to God on his behalf. Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, “Get up quickly.” The chains fell from his wrists. The angel said to him, “Put hi on your cloak and follow me.” So he followed him out, not realizing what was happening through the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.
Acts of the Apostles 12:1, 3-5, 7-9
It is happening again, Lord, when we are all in great darkness due to this COVID-19 pandemic.
How blessed are we, O Lord, here with us in the midst of this pandemic is Pope Francis, St. Peter’s successor and St. Paul’s reminder to continue in proclaiming your Gospel in season, out of season.
Keep him strong and inspired always in order to lead us through this dark 2020.
We pray, O dear Jesus, for our Church especially here in the Philippines.
Our churches remain closed, some of our leaders are under attack while some of them along with our fellow workers are so afraid, so timid, abandoning their flock in this crucial moments of tests. Others are so concerned with trivial things, pursuing positions, fame, and wealth.
Have mercy on us, Jesus in veering away from your person and your Cross.
Strengthen us your Church, Lord, especially Pope Francis and all the bishops and priests, to always be aware of the angels you are sending us to deliver us from so many dangers in this time of crisis.
May we avoid “over thinking” that results into “analysis paralysis” that we forget to focus and do the more important things at this time which is to accompany, to be one with your flock now under various attacks not only by the corona virus but the diseases of indifference and convenience.
May we your body, the Church continue to pray with confidence, remembering your own pasch that brought us to salvation as we thank you too in keeping us safe and alive since March.
Give us the courage of St. Paul to take this period of pandemic and crisis as a form of pasch for each one of us, that we may willingly die in our selves and offer ourselves to you through others as an offering through worship with our loving service to one another.
May we keep our sights focused on you alone, Lord Jesus, the Christ of the living God sent to make us one.
Like St. Peter and St. Paul, though they were poles apart in their personalities and backgrounds, they were united in serving you, working for you by seeking only your face, your voice, your will and your presence.
May we keep in mind that when we fail to know you, Lord, that is when people fail to know and meet you too like the people of your time who claimed you were one of the prophets
Yes, the situations today may be like a holy deja vu from the past but you are definitely and truly present among us in this time of crisis.
St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us!
Amen.
St. Peter by ecclesiastical artist Willy Layug at the Malolos Cathedral.
St. Paul by ecclesiastical artist Will Layug at the Malolos Cathedral.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Saturday, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, 13 June 2020
1 Kings 19:19-21 <*(((>< ><)))*> <*(((>< ><)))*> Matthew 5:33-37
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019
Glory and praise to you, O Lord Jesus Christ, on this most joyous feast of St. Anthony de Padua, our patron saint for lost items like keys and money. Nobody really knows for sure why he is the one invoked upon whenever we lose something.
But, one thing so beautiful about this most humble saint of great intelligence and gift of speaking is how he leads us back to you, O Lord Jesus and to our loving Father with his teachings and homilies.
He reminds us in his writings to be always be filled and guided by the Holy Spirit in our speech and action.
The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speech.
From a sermon by St. Antony of Padua (Office of Readings, June 13)
Most of the time, we are lost because we have become empty of you, Lord, and filled with our very selves, with our ego and pride, insisting on what we know, what we want.
From Pinterest.com
Most of the time, Lord, we are lost that we cannot “mean ‘yes’ when we say ‘yes’, and mean ‘no’ when we say ‘no'” as you reminded us in the gospel today.
Give us the courage like Elisha who accepted God’s call to replace the Prophet Elijah by slaughtering his 12 oxen and cooking them with his plows and yokes to feed the people as he bid goodbye to family and friends for his mission.
In this time of pandemic and many other social problems, we pray for those who feel lost in life without any sense of directions, those who have lost their loved ones to COVID-19 and other illnesses, those who have lost their jobs and means of livelihood, those who have lost their faith — for all of us lost, help us find our way back to you, Lord! Amen.
