Make it easy on yourself

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 06 June 2023
Tobit 2:9-14 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 12:13-17

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 19 May 2023.*

I am not going to sing,
Lord, but Burt Bacharach's
old tune "Make It Easy on Yourself"
is one consoling song
that must have come
only from you.

Many times,
our worst enemy is
our very self;
many times we are
so hard on ourselves,
unforgiving,
unkind and
uncharitable 
not only to ourselves
but also to those
dearest to us.
Like Tobit who 
refused to believe 
the goat brought home
by his wife Anna was a gift, 
not stolen as he insisted.

Yet I would not believe her, and told her to give it back to its owners. I became very angry with her over this. So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!”
Tobit 2:14

Forgive us, loving Father
for the many times 
we ourselves indict us
for wrongdoings we 
accuse others of doing
like those Pharisees
and Herodians
who tried to ensnare
Jesus with the question
about paying taxes
when they themselves
handed him a denarius
they were not supposed
to bring in the temple area,
a clear sign of violating
their own laws,
of bringing false images
in the house of God!

Teach us, O God,
to be easy on ourselves,
to be kinder,
to be softer
with our weaknesses
and shortcomings
for we are not gods
like you; most of all,
teach us to be easy
on ourselves 
so we may be also easy 
on others
and to you too!
Amen.

Our unique giftedness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 25 May 2023
Acts 22:30, 23:6-11   ><))))*> + <*((((><   John 17:20-26

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 27 February 2023.*

How wonderful and
so touching, Lord Jesus,
for you to call us 
a gift from the Father.

“Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
John 17:24

Help me keep, dear Jesus,
that being of a gift to you
from the Father by being
a witness of your glory
which is standing by your
side at the Cross like St. Paul
whom you have called "to bear
witness to you in Jerusalem and
in Rome" (Acts 23:11).

May we always remember
this truth, our being a gift to
you dear Jesus, so that in moments
we feel so overburdened,
when we are losing hope,
when we feel like giving up,
we may forge on 
and persevere
in bearing witness 
to your Cross of suffering
so that eventually be one
in your glorious Resurrection.
Amen.

Choosing what is difficult

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Seventh Week of Easter, 23 May 2023
Acts 20:17-27 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> John 17:1-11

*Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 19 May 2023.*

Lord Jesus Christ,
give me the courage and
strength to choose what is
most difficult
in order for me to follow you
more closely.
It is in choosing 
the most difficult
that we are able to
follow and do your
most holy will, Lord;
it is in the most difficult,
in the most painful,
and in the most trying
when we become truly selfless,
being able to give ourselves to you, 
Lord,
through others
like your great apostle
St. Paul.

“But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.”
Acts of the Apostles 20:22-24

How ironic, dear Jesus
that in this age when
the instant and easy ways
are glorified and desired much
especially when they bring
fame and wealth,
the more our lives
have become empty
of meaning and 
lacking directions.
Keep me close to you,
Jesus, especially
to your Cross
for it is through
your suffering and
death we also enter
eternal life in you.
Amen.

Ang nakababalisa

Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-09 ng Mayo 2023

*Larawan kuha ng may-akda, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 Marso 2023.*

Paano nga ba
pananaligan
panghahawakan
katiyakan sa atin 
ni Jesus, 
"huwag kayong mabalisa"
sa dami ng sakbibi
nitong buhay
walang katapusan
di malaman hahantungan?

Ngunit kung susuriin
pagkabalisa natin
ay hindi naman 
mga bagay-bagay
sa labas kungdi yaong
nasa loob
mismong sarili
ang sumisinsay
upang manalig
at pumanatag.

Nababalisa
sa pagkakasakit
hindi dahil sa hirap
at sakit kungdi 
sa panahon at pagkakataong
winaldas, lahat natapon
walang naipon;
nababalisa
sa kamatayan 
hindi dahil sa di alam 
patutunguhan kungdi
malabo pinanggalingan
at pinagdaanan,
walang kinaibigan
ni hiningan ng kapatawaran;
nababalisa hindi sa mga nangyayari
kungdi sa mga pagkukunwari
kapalaluan di matalikuran
gayong sukol na
sa sariling kapahamakan.

Hangga't wasak
at di buo ating samahan 
at ugnayan
sa sarili, 
sa Diyos at 
sa kapwa
lagi tayong balisa
nanghihinayang at kulang
dahil sa kahuli-hulihan
sila ating kailangan;
iyan ang kahulugan
ng mga sumunod 
na salitang binitiwan
ni Jesus na sa kanya
tayo ay manalig
upang siya at ang Ama
sa atin ay manahan
ating sandigan
tunay maasahan
magpakailanman.

When we are lost, then found

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 April 2023

*Photo by author, 08 February 2023, Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.*

We all know 
that feeling happening
more often lately
a foreboding of senility?
when we go like crazy
why can't we see suddenly
some things we have
held or kept momentarily
until we sound the alarm
and call everyone
to join in the search
but still nowhere to be found.

It could be the key
or the glasses or the phone
that in exasperation
we say begone
only to make us
forlorn figures
in our own home
or tiny room
but sometimes too soon
other times would take
too long, our lost 
things are suddenly found!

Is it part of the riddle
of that black hole they call
when missing things
suddenly appear
without being sought
much less thought?
But here is the thrill:
when things even persons
are missing,
are we not the ones 
who are lost
and waiting to be found?

More than the
naked shouts of eureka
is our profound joy
when missing things
even persons suddenly
appear because the truth
is, we were the ones lost
and could not be found
in our cluttered minds
and hearts shut and closed
by our fears and doubts, 
anxieties and insecurities.

In this life
far wider than the world
where planes still go missing
amid modern technologies
and endless searching,
could it be that we are 
missing our bearings
as beings, forgetting 
God and others when we are
lost to our own beliefs or
locked in our small world
of lies and prejudice?

To find those missing 
persons or things dear to us
it might help if we first lose
whatever is holding us
for the world is so wide
for anyone or anything 
to just disappear 
they surely must be here
awaiting for our hearts 
to be clear until we hear
that sweet voice
giving us peace within.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:19-20

*Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com*

Holiness is sensitivity of others

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Tuesday, 04 April 2023
Isaiah 49:1-6   >>> + <<<   John 13:21-33, 36-38

*Photo by Ms. April Oliveros, Mt. Pulag, 25 March 2023.*

Dear Jesus,
let me be sensitive of other people,
of their feelings and beliefs,
of their roots and situations,
most especially of their needs,
their fears,
their pains,
their losses
and their longings.

How sad, dear Lord,
when you expressed to the Twelve
on your Last Supper how you were
"deeply troubled" that one of them would
betray him, "they looked at one another
and were at a loss as to whom you meant";
more sad was after you have identified 
Judas Iscariot as the one to betray you,
they still did not get it!
(cf. John 13:21-30).

Many times, dear Jesus,
we are like them, so self-centered,
always looking at others,
at a loss at what you mean
because we lack sensitivity:
we rarely think about you really 
nor of others as we are preoccupied
with our own ideas and perceptions
about you and others, refusing to suspend
or let go of them even for a while 
to feel exactly how others felt;
we have lost that sensitivity to have the eyes
to see what others see when they are lost,
who stop to notice others are missing
or crying or been left behind as their
pace slowed down due to heavy burdens.

My sweet Lord,
knock me off my senses,
from my self-centeredness
and self-righteousness
giving reasons even justifications
to whatever I do,
when I have become results-oriented
than person-oriented
that as a result, I could not take failures 
and disappointments in life.
May I have your sensitivity
and humility as God's Suffering Servant.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God.
Isaiah 49:4

Let me sing of your salvation,
Lord Jesus Christ
in unison with my suffering
brothers and sisters,
trusting in you alone.
Amen.

Lent is for setting things right

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent, 07 March 2023
Isaiah 1:10, 16-20   >>> +++ <<<   Matthew 23:1-12

*Photo by author, sunrise at the Pacific from the coast of Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.*

In this blessed
Season of Lent,
I pray to you, 
dear God our Father,
to help me set things 
right in my self,
in my life;
help me set things right
by "washing myself clean, 
putting away my misdeeds,
ceasing from doing evil
and learning to do good
by making justice my aim,
redressing those I have wronged,
hearing the plea of the orphans,
and defending the powerless 
among us" (Isaiah 1:16-17).

Let me set things right,
O Lord, by walking my talk,
by practicing what I preach,
by being humble without any 
desires to be known nor admired,
nor be served by putting too much
burdens on others without my 
lifting of my finger, seeking 
places of honor and being 
greeted by everyone (Mt. 23:1-7);
forgive me for those times
I thought that you are like me
when I recite your statutes and
profess your covenant with mouth
yet hate discipline (Ps. 50:16-17).

Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
my keeping in mind
YOU alone is our Master
and Teacher, that there
is no other Father but
God alone in heaven
(Mt. 12:7-10).

Let me set things right,
O Lord, in my life
by letting go of my
bitterness and unforgiveness,
of my painful and dark past;
help me set things right
in finally fulfilling that 
promise I made to change
in myself, in finally making 
peace with that person I detest,
in going back to you in
Christ Jesus.
Amen.

Lent is choosing God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 23 February 2023
Deuteronomy 30:15-20   ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'>   Luke 9:22-25

Everyday you bless us,
O God, with that great power
to choose freely what we desire
best for us; but, many times, we make
the wrong choices that often lead us
to more pains and emptiness,
sadness and that feeling of being
lost.

Most of all,
we choose sin,
we choose evil,
than choosing good,
than choosing you, O God.

Moses said to the people: “I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

So many times
we make the wrong choices
when we insist on what we like
without really knowing what it is;
we make wrong choices
when we choose to disregard
you and your ways, Lord;
worst, we make the wrong choices
because we reject our very selves!

What a tragedy
when we ourselves refuse
to believe in ourselves,
in our worth,
in our possibilities
because we have lost all hope
in life, in you, and in others
due to failures or disappointments
or frustrations in life;
we choose wrongly when we
avoid pains and sufferings,
when we refuse to choose
the Cross not realizing
it is the one that truly leads
to life and prosperity
because every suffering,
every pain
leads to maturity
that make us better
and more open to
life and prosperity.

These 40 days of Lent,
let us choose you, Jesus
including your Cross;
let us choose people and
things outside of ourselves
because you have chosen to
care us and all our needs;
let us trust you 
so we may always choose you
because the times we choose
wrongly in life,
when we choose people
and things that are seemingly
favorable to us,
that is when 
we do doubt you,
when we do not 
trust you.
Amen.

Jesus,
King of Mercy,
we trust in you!

The problem with unity

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 17 February 2023
Genesis 11:1-9 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 8:34-9:1

Thank you, O God our loving Father
for this wonderful Friday;
after a week of stories of our Creation
and Fall, your words today invite us
anew to look deeper into our hearts 
to find you and see your plans for us.

The story of the tower of Babel reveals
many things about our hearts,
of how we would always start seeming
to be good, like being one and united
as a people which you have always desired;
but, like the people at that time, our seemingly
good and innocent plans reveal sinister
evil within our hearts:  "Come,
let us build ourselves a city 
and a tower with its top in the sky,
and so make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered 
all over the earth" (Genesis 11:4).

Forgive us, O God, 
the many times we have tried
manipulating you, fooling our selves
with our supposed to be good intentions
when in fact full of evil and selfish motives;
how funny we have never learned that in
our efforts to preserve ourselves through
our many selfish schemes, the more we fall,
the more we ended up divided like at Babel.

The Lord brings to nought the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the Lord stands forever, the design of his heart through all generations.
Psalm 33:10-11

Let us not confuse unity
with oneness right away;
yes we have to be one in you
through others, but never one
in ourselves or with others for a
vested interest for it shall surely collapse
and crash like Babel;
take away our arrogance that pretend
to be sincere and true in always having
the best intentions, the most beautiful plans
when in fact are all self-serving,
trying to impose our very selves on others;
make us realize that life is fragile,
that anything can always happen 
with us and with our plans, 
that we have no total control of everything
and hence, simply be open to your
new directions and instructions.

Help us forget our selves, 
to take up our cross and follow 
your Son Jesus Christ 
in humility and simplicity,
in hiddenness and silence,
in kindness and love
for others which is your
original plan for us as a people. 
Make us one in you, dear Father,
regardless of our language and color,
or any other differences like at Pentecost.
Amen.

A Valentine’s day prayer

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of Sts. Cyril, Monk & Methodius, Bishop, 14 February 2023
Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Mark 8:14-21

On this most joyous day of hearts,
dear God our Father,
I pray for us all with a heart
to have a natural heart
not hardened by sin and bitterness,
not a heart lacking in understanding
nor a heart so caught up with selfish
and personal agenda.

When the Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved.
Genesis 6:5-6

Give us a heart
inclined to you, O Lord,
a heart that listens in silence,
a heart that rejoices in truth,
a heart that celebrates what is good,
a heart that sings amid the many scars
and pains of infidelity and betrayal, 
unkindness and unfriendliness,
a heart that is whole and undivided
in courage and freedom to do what 
is most loving, most self-sacrificing
and self-giving like that of Jesus Christ.

Let us not be carried away
and worst, give rise to the commercialization
of Valentine's Day that we forget the 
true meaning of loving which is 
forgetting one's self and thinking more of
the other person; how lovely it is to read how
you, O God, directed Noah to build an ark
to save his family from the great flood:
Everyone inside the ark was in pair -
Noah and his wife,
his three sons and each one's wife
as well as the animals with one male
and one female each to show us that
love is never alone,
always with another person
with a community of believers!

Many times, O Lord,
we miss your point because we are so
caught up with our own thoughts and ideas
that our eyes cannot see,
and ears cannot hear.
Teach like our brother saints today,
St. Cyril and St. Methodius
to seek your holy will 
so we may love truly
like Jesus Christ who
died on the Cross
for us.
Amen.