Category: Set apart

Set apart…

The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 24 April 2024
Acts 12:24-13:5     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     John 12:44-50
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 15 April 2024.
It was You, dear God,
who started that beautiful
process of "setting apart"
day from night,
darkness from light,
land from water;
and now, You tell us
in Your words how You
set apart some people
for special mission for You.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off. So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues (Acts 13:2-5).

In our Baptism and Confirmation,
most especially in the Holy Eucharist,
You set us apart, O Lord,
to special mission too
to proclaim Your word,
to make You present 
in this world.
Help us imitate the early Church
of always praying and fasting
to be filled with Your Word
Jesus Christ who became flesh
and dwelled among us;
enable us to set apart 
our own biases and differences
for Your mission;
let us set apart our own words
from Your divine word
to only speak of You
and never about us;
most of all, 
let us set apart
our own glory and interests
so that like Jesus,
we may only "say 
as the Father told me"
(Jn. 12:50).
Amen.

God sets us apart to bring us together

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Easter, 28 April 2021
Acts 12:24-13:5   ><)))"> ><)))"> ><)))">   John 12:44-50
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Harbor Nature Sanctuary, Infanta, Quezon, 2019.

Your words again, O God our Father today speak of separation – but this time not because of persecution or by any human design whether good or bad. Today you are teaching us a different kind of being separated for you and your mission in order to be one with you and your people.

How amazing, indeed, are your works, Lord, because when you set us apart from family and friends to be with you, to fulfill your mission, you actually bring us together with our loved ones in you!

Just like what you did with Barnabas and Saul.

After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,
they returned to Jerusalem, taking with them John, who is called Mark.
While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them."
Then, completing their fasting and prayer, 
they laid hands on them and sent them off.
(Acts 12:25, 13:2-4)

Come to us, Lord Jesus!

Be our light in the many darkness of our lives, in the many “separations” we have had in our lives not as you have planned for us.

Enlighten our minds and our hearts to see distinctly when we have to be set apart as you plan, not according to our own ideas and agenda.

Sometimes it happens too that we refuse to be set apart from others and from situations simply because we cannot let go.

Be the one to set us apart from others and from work and routines to do your work and mission.

Make us realize your words, dear Jesus that though you and the Father who sent you are apart and distinct from each other, you are both one in perfect unity.

And that is the beauty when it is you who set us apart in order to be one with you and with others. Amen.