Category: Truth

Our sins of omission

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 29 March 2023
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95   > +++ <   John 8:31-42
Photo by author, sunrise at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 22 March 2023.
Listening to your words today,
O God our Father,
prompted me to examine
my sins of omission;
they are the least easily
noticed of my sins
because they are what
I have failed to do.
Even if we confess it daily
at the start of the Mass,
I rarely recall my sins of omission.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you set up.”

Daniel 3:16-17
Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I never
had the same courage of the
three young men in standing by
my faith in You,
in choosing to do what is right
and good even if it would mean
suffering and discomfort for me;
many times, it is during these
moments when I commit  
my sins of omission:
when I become less
charitable with others 
in my dealings with them,
when I fail to meet the
requirements of love 
in exercising my different duties.

Forgive me, O God,
in the many times I 
failed to stand up
for You, 
for others,
for what is right 
and just due to pressures
and worst,
out of personal favors
I get or simply,
when I am afraid
to do what is right.
In Jesus' name, 
dear Father,
help me to be truthful,
to always seek and stand
by the truth so I may be
free from bondage to sin,
free from fears in order to be
free to know myself better
and most especially 
to follow Jesus
by remaining 
in his word.
Grant me the grace,
Lord, to discover sins 
I am not aware of
so that I may have the grace
to know myself better
to serve you in others.
Amen.

Hearing, coming

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 January 2023
Hebrews 7:25-8:6   <'000>< + ><000'> + <'000>< + ><000'>   Mark 3:7-12
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2022.
Open our ears and our hearts,
God our loving Father, 
to always hear your voice,
to heed your calls in Jesus Christ
so that like the people in the gospel
we too may come to him.

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.

Mark 3:7-8
In the fourth gospel, John
tells us how Jesus invited 
Andrew and companion to
"come and see" where he stayed;
in a beautiful manner, Mark
tells us today how people
"heard and came" to Jesus!
"Coming" to you, O Lord,
is always accompanied either
by seeing as a result of coming
or by hearing that leads to coming.
How ironic,
even ridiculous
in our time with all the earphones
and earplugs and pods stacked in
our ears listening, hearing the 
cacophony of sounds and noise
of the world and everyone peddling
lies after lies but we would not 
even bother to hear nor listen 
to the gospel and stories of Jesus Christ!
In fact, we are so busy listening
to others and the world without
ever hearing our true selves
at all!
Teach us to listen,
to hear and follow your
voice and calls, dear Jesus
for you alone is our perfect 
mediator, our perfect high priest
"who is always able to save those
who approach God through him,
since he lives forever to make 
intercessions for them" (Heb. 7:25).
Refine our listening
pleasures and abilities
that touch our very core
not just our senses,
massaging our ego;
may we have the courage
to hear and listen to what is
true and just, no matter how
painful they may be
for it is only in that way
we can be healed of our
many diseases and maladies.
Amen.

Benedict XVI, the modern John the Baptist

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Christmas Weekday, Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus, 03 January 2022
1 John 2:29-3:6     ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'>     John 1:29-34
Keep me true to you,
God our loving Father,
and most of all true to myself
as your beloved child so I would
always recognize Jesus Christ
in our midst like John the Baptist.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1
How did John recognize Jesus
coming to him for baptism in 
today's gospel?
I am sure that it was because
of this truth, of being your child,
loving Father;
indeed, beautiful souls
recognize beautiful souls;
John was so genuine and
Jesus was the purest
because he is truth himself
that John could boldly claim
Jesus is the lamb of God,
the one he had said as coming
though he did not know him
(cf. Jn.1:29-31).
What a beautiful scene of two
genuine souls
recognizing each other!
If we could just replicate it daily
in our lives too,
beginning in our home!
In our modern time that
is so very much like the time of Jesus
when people have turned away from you, God
including those who claim to be Christians
yet promoting abortion and same sex union
as well as priests and bishops
supposed to be the light of reason,
decency, and morality but are not,
we are so blessed with your humble servant,
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
His was a genuine soul,
a most genteel person so maligned
by many especially the Western press
 and some clergymen
for his fidelity to the Lord's teachings,
truly a John the Baptist who pointed us all
to go back to Jesus Christ especially
in the light of the sex scams that have rocked
the Church;
his writings are simply the best,
in itself like the gospel exposing your
truth in words so understandable;
most of all,
he lived in all simplicity and humility
that he was able to see
eternity.
Most dearest Jesus,
grant me the grace you gave
Pope Benedict XVI:
may I also say before my death
in all sincerity and truth,
"Lord, I love you".
Let these words be
impressed on my soul
and be my guide
in life.
Amen.

Who are you? What are you?

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops/Doctors of the Church
02 January 2022
1 John 2:22-28     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     John 1:19-28
Photo by Mr. John Ryan Jacob, 31 December 2022, Paco, Obando, Bulacan.
What a great Monday morning
in this new year of 2023,
God our loving Father!
Thank you for your words
that invite us to examine
our true selves,
of who we are,
and what are we?

This is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

John 1:19-21
Many times we are at a loss
for answers for these basic
questions we refuse to face
and answer, always evading
because deep inside we are lost;
empty our hearts of our pride
and sin to let your Son Jesus Christ
come within;
may we let him dwell in our hearts
and fill us with his humility,
justice,
and love.
Like John,
may we be firm in telling
and showing everyone who we are;
let us not be liars who deny
Jesus is the Christ not only in
words but most especially in deeds;
many times, we just remain silent
amid all the evil and indecencies
that abound us these days especially
in social media.
Like the two great friends
Sts. Basil the Great and
Gregory Nazianzen who were both
Bishops and Doctors of the Church,
they never buckled down in their faith
defending and fighting the truth of Jesus Christ;
help us cultivate such kind of friendships
and relationships that flourish
in great faith and love of Jesus.
Amen.

Walking in love, walking in truth

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop, 11 November 2022
2 John 4-9   ><000'> + <'000>< --- ><000'> + <'000><   Luke 17:26-37
St. Martin of Tours, Patron of our hometown Bocaue in Bulacan.
Lord Jesus Christ,
today you confront us with
the two contrasting attitudes
we disciples should have,
walking in love and 
walking in truth.

To walk in love is to live in love
which is to love one another
as you have loved us, Lord Jesus,
even to the point of giving our very selves
in love for another just like you.
Of course, we know it so well
and we have said so much about it
but have miserably failed in truly loving
like you because, O Lord, we have failed
to walk in truth; love and truth
always go together!
We cannot truly love when 
we live in lies and falsehoods,
when we are not sincere and faithful;
most of all, when we choose to be
blind and deaf 
to what is true and good.

For this is love that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh; such is the deceitful one and the antichrist. Anyone who is “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

2 John6-7, 9
Grant us, Jesus, the grace of walking in love
and walking in truth like St. Martin of Tours,
a great Saint who taught us in his life
how these two contrasting attitudes
perfectly go together in witnessing your gospel.

Upon seeing a beggar on a cold winter night,
he cut his cape into two without hesitation
to share it with the beggar freezing in cold;
he was not yet baptized at that time that
you appreciated it Lord by appearing to him
in a dream with the other half of his cape.

After he was baptized, as a soldier of
the Roman army, he realized that war
and the gospel are incompatible that he
refused to fight in a battle by declaring
"I am a soldier of Christ; I cannot fight."
Threatened to be jailed for cowardice,
St. Martin volunteered to be sent unarmed
to the frontline when just before his
commanders challenged his offer,
their opponents sued for peace,
preventing any battle.
After his discharge from the Roman army,
St. Martin founded monasteries
and soon his holiness became known that
he was elected Bishop of Tours in France,
faithfully serving you Jesus by
walking in love,
walking in truth.
After his death,
 his cult spread and was so popular
in Europe, proof that indeed,
"whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it"
(Luke 17:33).
St. Martin of Tours,
Pray for us!
Amen.
An icon of St. Martin giving the other half of his cape to a beggar; photo from blog.obitel-minsk.com.

Putting on Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 27 October 2022
Ephesians 6:10-20   ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'>   Luke 13:31-35
Photo from forbes.com, 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ,
in this age of affluence
when we are so concerned 
with how we look,
on how people see us
that we strive to buy 
and put on the most 
expensive and luxurious
clothes, shoes and bags,
accessories and gadgets 
to impress people, 
to make known to everyone
that "we have come", 
of who we are, of what we have
achieved;  make us not forget
that what matters most is 
our inside not the outside.
Most often, we are like
actors and actresses,
or worst, clowns who see
life as just a show - a palabas 
as we say in Filipino - 
that we forget the more
essential and important things
found inside us like our loving
and kind hearts, beautiful mind,
filled with your peace and goodwill.

Brothers and sisters: Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the spirits in the heavens.

Ephesians 6:10-12
Let us be dressed in your
humility and kindness;
clothe us with your justice 
and truth, wear always your
peace and power wherever
we go as we share you Jesus Christ
to everyone we meet.
Amen.

Praying not to be deceived

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 24 October 2022
Ephesians 4:32-5:8   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 13:10-17
Photo by author, 2018.
Lord Jesus Christ,
help me to be kind
to one another, 
compassionate and 
forgiving as you have
forgiven us (Eph.4:32);
let me live in love
by being true always
to you in words and
in deeds.
In this world and life
saturated in media whose 
only concerns are profit and
influence, let us not be deceived
with its colorful displays of images,
and most especially of talks and 
languages full of obscenities and
curse, reducing persons into things
who can be dispensed in the name of
"human rights" and then portrayed as cool
and progressive; worst, many of them
claim to be your followers as Catholics.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So do not be associated with them. For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

Ephesians 5:6-8
Give me the courage,
Lord, to stand for what
is true and good like you
in healing the crippled woman
who was bent and incapable of
standing erect;  let me choose to
do what is right and pleasing
to you, doing justice to everyone,
following your straight path
of kindness and compassion
for everyone especially the weak
and powerless.
Amen.

To come in peace and goodwill despite the chaos and darkness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, 105th Anniversary of the Last Marian Apparition at Fatima, 13 October 2022
Ephesians 1:1-10     ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>     Luke 11:47-54
From cbcpnews.net, 13 May 2022, at the Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City.
God our loving Father,
thank you in sending us
your Son Jesus Christ
who in turn gave his own
Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary
as he died on the Cross
to be our Mother too!
How wonderful
that in her last apparition
at Fatima in Portugal
105 years ago today,
she came bringing peace
and good will like when
Jesus was born more than
2000 years ago; it was the 
same message that St. Paul
brought to us through the
Ephesians as he described
Your magnificent plan
for us in Jesus Christ.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ…

Ephesians 1:2-5
Forgive us, merciful Father
in the name of Jesus Christ 
Your Son, in refusing to accept
this beautiful offer you have 
given us expressed clearly 
105 years ago today in Fatima,
Portugal by the Blessed Virgin Mary
who introduced herself as 
"the Lady of the Rosary";
despite the miraculous dancing 
of the sun, many still refuse to
believe and heed her call 
to return to You in Jesus Christ
through conversion,
of turning away from sins
and following the path of holiness,
of being filled with You.
Give us the grace that
like Mary in Fatima,
may we show others 
an alternative vision of
the world wherein 
all things are restored in
Jesus Christ by bringing
the light of your truth
against the world's 
darkness of lies and fake news;
like Mary at Fatima
may we lead people back to
you through the Sacraments 
especially the Holy Eucharist and Confession
instead of worshipping 
and adoring the modern gods
of gold and glamor the world 
offers so easily but treacherously.

Purify our devotion to Mary that
is rooted and focused on Christ
so we may instill hope and joy 
to so many people today 
in despair amid the harsh
realities of this life due to
the ongoing pandemic
with the persistent problems
of war and violence, 
poverty and inequalities, 
and lack of respect for life
and dignity of every person
regardless of color, belief,
and gender.
Be patient with us,
God our Father;
with Mary whom you
have sent to us in Fatima,
may we find our way
back to you in Jesus Christ
along with the conversion of
sinners and unbelievers
including our brothers and
sisters who profess to believe
in you but promote a culture
of death, leading a life
of evil and sin contrary to
your vision of living
in communion with you
in Christ.
Amen.
Our Lady of Fatima,
Pray for us!
Photo from pinterest.com.

Praying not to mislead others

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Virgin, 05 October 2022
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Luke 11:1-4
Photo by author, Church of the Our Father outside Jerusalem, Israel, May 2019.
Thank you, dear Jesus,
in leading us always in life,
in teaching us how to pray like
you by being one with our Father;
empower us, O Lord,
to be firm in calling God our Father
by being faithful and true to your
one teaching,
one calling,
one Body that includes everyone
especially the poor and suffering.
Make us mindful always
of the many occasions we try
pleasing everyone, like St. Peter
whom St. Paul opposed "to his face"
when he disguised of not hurting the 
feelings of some believers by following
the ways of former Jews that only those
circumcised would be saved; so often,
in our adoption of many defense mechanisms
and pretexts to hide our indecision in
standing for Christ, that is when we actually
mislead others from you, Jesus!

But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all, “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Galatians 2:14
Enlighten our minds
and our hearts through the Holy Spirit 
to ensure that it is 
only you, Jesus,
always you, Jesus
whom we share in
everything we say
and do.
Amen.
O most holy St. Sr. Faustina, 
with whom the Lord revealed his
Divine Mercy,
pray for us to be faithful
and convinced and consistent 
in Christ Jesus
our Divine Mercy.
Amen.

Praying for our critics

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Twenty-second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 02 September 2022
1 Corinthians 4:1-5     ><]]]]'> +++ <'[[[[><     Luke 5:33-39
Photo by author, Pater Noster Church outside Jerusalem, May 2019.
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:
today I pray for my critics,
the well-meaning among them
who truly think of my growth
and maturity in you as your servant
and steward; likewise, I pray for 
all the other critics who have
nothing else to do but criticize
me.

Praise and glory to you, Lord Jesus
that in the end, it is you who shall judge
me and everybody else, not our critics;
like Paul in today's first reading, I admit
my many shortcomings to you and your
people as your servant and steward; 
grant me the grace to be more trustworthy
by being more loving and understanding,
kind and caring, merciful and forgiving
but at the same time firm with what is
true and good in you.
People will always have something to say
about me and everyone, some may be
true, some may be false and even fake
but like the admonition of Paul, let no one
among us pass judgment on anyone;
keep us open, Jesus, to the leading of
the Holy Spirit; make us always like 
the new wine skins always flexible,
adjusting to new situations, to every
possibilities of your presence and coming.
Amen.