Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 June 2026 1 Kings 21:17-29 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 5:43-48
Photo by author, sunset at RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 10 June 2026.
Forgive us, God our loving Father, in continuing the story of Naboth's vineyard forcibly taken by King Ahab through his evil wife Queen Jezebel.
Most sad with this story that continues to our days is not only the greed and avarice of people with wealth and power; its tragedy that continues today is how there are people below them in stature, mostly the ones they abuse with a lot of help from supposed to be educated and middle class are so willing to support the modern King Ahabs and Queen Jezebels in their evil schemes employing fake news, willingly conniving, taking part in their chain of evil.
His fellow citizens – the elders and nobles who dwelt in his city – did as Jezebel had ordered a fast and placed Naboth at the head of the people. Two scoundrels came in and confronted him with the accusation, “Naboth has cursed God and king.” And they led him out of the city and stoned him to death (1Kings 21:12-13).
How tragic that until now, there are so many Naboths among us who are victims of a world governed by the rule of "an eye for an eye" where the powerful and corrupt take on what they want as they shamelessly crush the poor and the weakest; help us, Lord Jesus, to have the courage and humility to trust in you, to rely in you to have the strength in fighting the abuses of those in power; enlightening us of ways and approaches in opening the minds of the poor and supposed to be educated among us who blindly even rabidly support corrupt and evil men and women in the society, in politics.
Grant us patience to bear with the fools in our Senate holding on to power, who do not know what they are doing; enlighten the minds and hearts of those belonging to the majority to start following what is truly good and not their whims dictated by their bloated egos. Let your truth and charity prevail over us these days, Lord Jesus, so we can break the chain of evil in our country and society. Amen.
Photo by author, sunset at RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 10 June 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 June 2026 1 Kings 17:7-16 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 5:13-16
Photo by author, Taal Lake from St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, D’Alta Tagaytay, 02 June 2026.
God our loving Father, we thank you for the gift of this brand new day especially for our brothers and sisters in GenSan and other parts of Mindanao struck by a powerful quake yesterday; may this calamity bring out the best among us as we try to rebuild lives and cities anew.
Your words today, dear God speak about "bringing out" - when Elijah came to Zarephath, he asked your "designated widow" to bring out for him "a cupful of water to drink... along a bit of bread" while in the midst of a widespread drought.
She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah (1 Kings 17:15-16).
Teach us to trust you more in Jesus Christ your Son who calls us today "salt of the earth" and "light of the world" - how lovely that both things are so commonly found in every home then and now that also do the same what the widow of Zarephath did in bringing out water and bread to Elijah; may we be like the salt that brings out the taste and flavor of food that brings delight and nourishment to everyone; likewise, may we be like the light that dispels darkness to bring out realities and things into sight.
God our loving Father, may we never lose the saltiness of the salt, the luminance of light we already have but have taken for granted, even traded for lesser things that have severely affected our relationships, work, and inner life; your Son Jesus Christ clearly called us to make our light "shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5:16).
May we be clarified always that being salt of the earth and light of the world is not self-promotion so common these days but God's glory exactly what Elijah and the widow of Zarephath did. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Anthony de Padua Chapel, D’Alta Tagaytay, 02 June 2026.
Lord My Chef Recipe for Holy Saturday, 04 April 2026
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
A blessed Holy Saturday to you.
One of the most unforgettable scenes of COVID-19 pandemic when it started in the summer of 2020 was like what we have every Holy Saturday – empty streets with everyone away.
And silent.
What a blessed Holy Saturday we have again today like six years ago as we are in the midst of another worldwide crisis in oil prices due to the US-Israeli war against Iran, inviting us to rediscover the beauty and value of silence.
Because holiness is found in silence, the very language of God.
In the Bible, silence always precedes God’s appearances and revelations:
From the Book of Genesis in the story of creation when there was nothing – therefore, silent – to John’s gospel that said, “In the beginning was the word” to indicate there was only silence until “the word became flesh” (Jn.1:1, 14) in Jesus Christ who was totally silent during his growing up years in Nazareth and later frequently went into deserted places to rest and pray in silence during his ministry.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
Here we find in Jesus that holiness is first found in silence and in rest, when we listen more to God to do his will.
On that first Holy Saturday when Jesus was buried in a tomb, the whole creation came to full circle.
See how after completing creation, God rested on the seventh day and made it holy (Gen.2:3) while Jesus was laid to rest on the seventh day too after completing his mission of salvation.
Silence and rest always go together.
This we vividly find in our Filipino word for rest which is magpahinga that literally means “to be breathed on”, to be filled with God which is what holiness is all about.
Like in the creation of the first man who was breathed on by God to be alive, Jesus breathed on his disciples locked in the upper room after greeting them with peace twice on the evening of Easter.
Silence is not being quiet, not an emptiness when we shut off all sounds and noise.
Silence is actually a fullness, of trying to listen to all sounds and noise in order to distinguish which to listen to. It is in silence when we hear our true selves, when we understand and feel others and most especially become one in God.
That is why when we rest, we return to Eden, like the garden where Jesus was buried.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by(John 19:41-42).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
What a lovely image of God’s rest and silence in Eden and of Jesus laid to rest at a tomb in a garden because to rest in silence is to stop playing God as we return to him as his image and likeness again.
Today let us cultivate anew the practice of silence, of listening to the various sounds around us and within us and most of all, trying to listen to the most faint, the softest sound that is often the voice of God within us, reassuring us that in the midst of his silence, he never leaves us, that with him we are rising again to new life like Jesus Christ.
Let us be like those women who rested on the sabbath when Jesus was laid to rest. That like them, we may trust God more by being true to ourselves even in the midst of this oil crisis.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment(Luke 23:55-56).
Imagine the more difficult situation those women were into during that time. But they dared to rest in silence in the Lord. Unlike us today worried only with prices of oil and other goods, without threats at all to our lives.
Silence is the domain of trust; people afraid of silence are afraid to trust.
Perhaps that explains why almost everyone is glued with their cellphones or stuck with earphones and EarPods to have each one’s own world, unmindful of others.
On the other hand, the most trusting people are the silent ones. And always, the most loving ones too.
Let us pray:
Help us to be silent today, O God our Father as we remember your Son Jesus Christ’s Great Silence – Magnum Silentium – when he was “crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead and on the third day he rose again.” Breathe on us your Spirit of life and joy, O God as we rest in you, listening to your voice within us so that we may follow always Jesus Christ's path to Easter in the Cross. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2026.
Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth" (Jeremiah 17:5-6).
Forgive us, merciful Father for turning away from you, and turning away from our neighbors especially the sick many other Lazarus we ignore at our doorsteps; forgive us in believing more in ourselves, in our science and technology, ideologies and philosophies that stretch our rights and freedom forgetting all about our responsibilities; how foolish, O God, that we insist on our beliefs and misplaced trust in ourselves, in everything that is passing and temporary for as long as it is self-serving that we become like a barren bush or shrub in the desert, drying up, dying, hoping for the rains that would never come. Awaken us, Lord from this foolishness and let us arise to return to you until there is time.
Photo by author, Hidden Valley, Laguna, February 2025.
Thus says the Lord: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside waters that stretches out its roots to the stream; it fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit" (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Let me find my way back to you, God our Father; let me be like that tree planted beside the stream, beside you, in you, trusting you alone; let me be rooted in you, Father, filled with life and meaning; deepen my roots in you, Father, listening more to your voice of wisdom and truth that are inconvenient in this age of instants comfort.
Photo by author, Malagos, Davao City, 18 August 2018.
Lord Jesus Christ, you have given me with so much and I have given so little; let me give more of myself to you so I can give and share you more with others; keep me rooted in you as I surrender myself to you, doing your most holy will. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 04 February 2026 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 6:1-6
Photo by author, Sakura trees in Taiwan, February 2019.
God our loving and merciful Father: teach us today to have the courage and most of all the maturity not only to say sorry when we have sinned and erred but most especially to admit and own our sins and mistakes like King David in today's first reading.
When David saw the angel who was striking the people, he said to the Lord: “It is I who have sinned; it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done? Punish me and my kindred” (2 Samuel 24:17).
Teach us to grow in Jesus, dear Father because for as long as we are blinded by our greatness we measure in our stature and income, accomplishments and accolades, we shall always be like King David in the first reading believing only in our selves, hiding in so many ways like census the subtle arrogance that rules our lives, forgetting or disregarding your grace and mercy in our achievements in life that when things go wrong, we blame others and point fingers at everyone except our selves.
Let us be true and sincere dear Jesus today to find where we put our security in our day to day living so that we may also find where you, O God, sad to say, "fit" into our lives due to our lack of faith in you. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 January 2026 1 Samuel 4:1-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:40-43
Photo by author, Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag, 09 January 2026.
Your words since Monday at the start of Ordinary Time are so amazing and lovely, O God our Father; I love, O Lord, the contrasts presented between the first reading and the gospel just like today that is so unique with the striking differences in approaching you, dear God.
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; every man fled to his own tent. It was a disastrous defeat, in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead (1 Samuel 4:10-11).
A leper came to him (Jesus) and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean (Mark 1:40-42).
Until now, many of us are still like those Israelites who brought the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefront as if it were an "anting-anting" in fighting the Philistines who overwhelmingly defeated them; the recent Traslacion that many still continue to defend is something we ought to rectify or recalibrate by deepening our faith to put order and solemnity in a supposed to be religious activity; show us the way in witnessing to others the proper approach to you, Lord, is like that leper full of trust and surrender to your will, not in insisting our personal desires and "panata" that in the process we forget to imitate your Son Jesus in being loving and charitable. Amen.
Photo by author, Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag, 09 January 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companion Martyrs, 24 November 2025 Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 21:1-4
Photo by Mr. Chester Ocampo, UST-SHS, 04 November 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, give me a new perspective today on this final stretch of November and of our liturgical calendar; let me see this too familiar scene with you at the temple with new eyes:
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood” (Luke 21:1-4).
Every day,
dear Jesus I witness
a similar scene
but never bothered myself
to search for you,
to find you there,
also sitting,
looking,
observing
how we put our
offerings not only to
the treasury but to each day;
teach me to suspend every
judgment so I may see truly
the poor and the rich among us;
open my eyes and let me
move away from everything familiar
to converse and share moments
with that woman,
perhaps share a meal with her
and ask her,
"why give
all those
two small coins?"
I feel you, Lord
speaking also to me:
teach me to be content
and grateful with whatever
I have like that poor widow;
teach me to believe more,
to trust more in you;
most of all,
teach me to have less
for myself,
less of myself
in order to have more
of you.
Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 19 November 2025 Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year I 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28
Lady of Sorrows from a triptych by the Master of the Stauffenberg Altarpiece, Alsace c. 1455; photo from fraangelicoinstitute.com.
What a lovely phrase, dear Jesus for today for us all especially mothers and all women: "womanly heart, manly courage."
At this time when a wayward daughter and sister viciously attacks her own brother in total disregard of our family values and tradition, not to mention the need for decency and respect as well as a little sanity too, here comes out in the open the nobility of many women and mothers as well as men still intact; in this time like during the Maccabean Revolt when many sold their souls to evil for the price of comfort and ease, there are still more like that mother who dare to go against the tide of insanity and folly, indecency and disrespect, most of all, of idolatrous worship through religious leaders of the many sects and cults who use God's name in vain and shameful profit too.
Keep us strong inside, Jesus, to be not afraid in venturing into finding ways of serving you most than being idle in keeping your gifts and talents; teach us anew the virtue of obedience, of docility to authority whether at home and family or in the society in general and in other civil institutions.
Lastly, we pray dear Jesus for all mothers crying in silence these days for the many pains they bear inside their hearts especially those who have lost a child, those betrayed by their own husband or children, those separated from their families due to work and employment, those nursing a sick loved one, those forgotten even by families and societies; grant them a "womanly heart" filled with faith in God and a "manly courage" trusting in you alone. Amen.
Now more than ever, we are proven right: the past administration is the most decadent in our history with its utter lack of respect for life and for women; that its war on drugs was totally a lie. May they “who have contrived every kind of affliction not escape the hands of God” (2 Maccabees 7:31).
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 17 October 2025 Friday, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr Romans 4:1-8 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 12:1-7
Your words, O Lord Jesus this Friday are so lovely, so comforting especially in this time when many fear ageing, suffering, and death.
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one (Luke 12:4-5).
How I wish I could hug you, Jesus, lean on you while relishing your calling us "my friends" not to be afraid of those who kill the body; more than trusting you, let me live in you, Jesus like Abraham as explained by St. Paul in the first reading who deeply trusted God in everything; deepen my consciousness as a senior citizen that life does not end in the grave because the soul persists even after death; thank you also for the gift of hair though it had thinned and turned gray, now sparse and perhaps easier for the Father to count and remember but most of all as signs of his love and care for me; let me not be afraid, Jesus, for I am worth more than the sparrows.
St. Ignatius of Antioch whose feast we celebrate today, pray for us modern people so afraid of pain and suffering and death: pray for us to be like you - to accept death, even pursue death which is our rebirth to new life. Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 04 September 2025 Thursday in the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Colossians 1:9-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 5:1-11
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7 News in Batanes, September 2018.
Today's gospel story of your first meeting with Simon reminds me of how your presence made a difference in my life when I finally said "yes" to your call to give my vocation to the priesthood a second chance in 1991 when I resigned from my job to enter the seminary again; it was pure joy at first that later became more intense, more deep and wonderful as the going got tough and rough; it was never easy following you, Jesus but you have never forsaken me since then until now though many times I have balked and even backed out from you as you kept telling me those same words you told Simon, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 5:10).
Fill me, Jesus, "with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit nd growing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:9-10); teach me to trust you more by surrendering, giving up my total self to you so that I may continue casting my net into the deep; though I have given up a lot, I still feel I have not given up that much of myself to you - take away from me, Jesus whatever I still hold on deep inside, help me surrender myself to you totally so that I may know you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you most closely daily for it is in your presence when I am most fulfilled. Amen.
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