sense of sin – Page 2

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 June 2024
1 Kings 21:17-29 <'[[[[><< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:43-48

God our merciful Father,
grant me the grace today
to understand my sins more
clearly so that I may come to
sorrow for them,
sorrow that leads to love
of your Son Jesus Christ
and not despair;
let me keep in mind
that sin is not just a breaking
of your laws and rules but
simply a refusal to love
You and others around me;
and the worst part of sin
we are not aware of is how
it seriously affects our personality,
our personhood
because whenever we sin
we become a less-loving
person.

Being perfect,
being holy like You,
dear Father,
means being filled
by You
which is a process
of daily conversion
when we ask
your forgiveness Father,
to gain a better self-knowledge
of ourselves
to identify our weaknesses
and sinfulness
so that in your grace,
we become a better person
than before.

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Lent, 26 February 2024
Daniel 9:4-10     <*((((>< + + + ><))))*>     Luke 6:36-38

Thank you, Lord,
"great and awesome God"
(Daniel 9:4) for another month
about to end as we entered 
the second week in Lent;
by this time,
let us feel more your mercy
and forgiveness,
your immense love
despite our repeated sins
that have actually
habitual to many of us.

Like Daniel your prophet,
make us "shamefaced"
before you instead of being
shameless.

Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries to which you have scattered them because of their treachery toward you. O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you.
Daniel 9:7-8

Before we can be
merciful as you are 
merciful dear Father
according to Jesus Christ,
let us be shamefaced first
of all for our sinfulness;
many of us have lost that
sense of sinfulness,
becoming shameless
and so thick-faced
that saying it in Tagalog
is best, "makapal
ang mukha".

This Lent,
teach us to be
ashamed of our sins
and iniquities;
teach us to let go 
of our many excuses
and alibis that only
make our face grow
thicker like the soles
of our feet; make us
realize the more shame 
we put on our selves 
when we feel so
self-righteous
that we have no room
to be kind and understanding,
even caring and 
forgiving of others.

This Lent,
let us start
being shamefaced,
of having a healthy 
mistrust of our selves
so that we begin to trust you more,
O Lord, and become like you,
loving and merciful,
and eventually a vessel
of your blessings for others.
Amen.

Category: sense of sin

Understanding sin

Shamefaced in Lent