The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr, 10 August 2023
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 <*[[[[><< + >><]]]]'> John 12:24-26
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
God our loving Father,
help us to see and follow Jesus
your Son like your servant
St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr.
Though there may be less
persecutions these days
of Christians, the call to be
Christ's witnesses is more
compelling today as we live
in world that tries to forget you
and negate you.
Like the Greek visitors in
Jerusalem who asked help
from Philip and Andrew
to see Jesus, we too want
to see him.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”
John 12:24
To see you, O Lord Jesus
is more than laying one's eyes
on your image
or your Blessed Sacrament;
to see you like St. Lawrence
is to have an insight,
to penetrate your inner mind
of self-sacrifice,
of losing one's self like
the grain of wheat that falls
on the ground to die, disintegrate
and be transformed
as new wheat bearing
much grain to feed more people.
Like St. Lawrence,
let us see that reality
to have the courage to offer
ourselves to you through others
in a life of service and sacrifice
so we may inspire more to serve you,
most especially see you too.
Let us not count the costs
of what we give up for they have
all been paid for by Jesus;
like St. Lawrence,
let us consider everything
as a pure grace from you
meant to be shared
for indeed, "you love a cheerful giver";
may we keep in mind and heart
that "God is able to make every grace
abundant for us,
so that, always having all we need,
we may have an abundance
for every good work"
(2Cor.9:8).
In this world of affluence
amid the ironic poverty of so many,
may we emulate St. Lawrence
in learning and living Christ's teaching
that true wealth is found
not in having things for ourselves
but in sharing and giving
with the others the gifts
we have received.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter, 26 April 2023
Acts 8:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 6:35-40
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Lord Jesus,
teach me to be a "devout"
person; not just righteous or
holy but devout as well
like those "Devout men (who)
buried Stephen and made a loud
lament over him" (Acts 8:2).
Yesterday, you taught us dear Lord
that whatever is in our heart is
reflected on our face;
today you teach us that
to be "devout" is still of the heart
which is to be of a good heart
ready to believe and act openly
with courage on that belief.
Only St. Luke used the adjective
"devout" to describe some persons
like Simeon who praised God upon
seeing Jesus when presented to the
temple by his parents; the Jews from
all over the world who came to observe
Pentecost day in Jerusalem;
the men who buried Stephen, and
Ananias who sought Saul while
still blind to bring him to the Church.
Many times dear Lord
our being devout is
self-serving when we merely
open our eyes for things
that are seen in our many
devotions, seeing more our selves
failing to see Christ in
the other persons
who have to be loved
and cared for, understood
and forgiven, accepted and
affirmed.
No wonder until now,
though we receive you Jesus
in the Eucharist, we do not
experience and feel your Body,
your Person because our hearts
are not open at all to you through
others especially the sick and
suffering. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Easter, Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, 25 April 2023
1 Peter 5:15-14 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Mark 16:15-20
A painting of St. Mark the Evangelist by French artist Valentin de Boulogne done in 1624-1625 from en.wikipedia.org.
Thank you, dear Lord Jesus
for calling and sending us
St. Mark the Evangelist,
the first to have written
your gospel account based
on the teachings of his
friend and mentor,
St. Peter; his gospel
account eventually
became the guide of
later gospel accounts by
Matthew and Luke.
And we thank you for
that giftedness of being
the first to write,
the first to dare
go out and make you
known by everyone,
Lord Jesus Christ!
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Mark 16:15-16
St. Mark is often described
as being young
and at the same time
immature: twice he is
portrayed as fleeing
from your mission,
first from the scene
when you O Lord was
arrested that he left his
linen cloth behind
and then during the
missionary journey of
Paul and Barnabas
when he left them
and went back to
Jerusalem.
But, it was his youthfulness
that pushed him too to dare and
write the first gospel account;
how wonderful that he is
represented by the lion
as he began his gospel with
the fulfillment of the prophecy of
Isaiah in John the Baptist as
"the voice crying in the wilderness"
like the lion.
Every time we dare to cry
and shout in the wilderness
of your coming, dear Jesus,
your gospel comes,
your gospel is fulfilled;
every time we overcome
our immaturities
and recklessness,
you become present;
every time we imitate you,
Jesus, we write the gospel!
Let us clothe ourselves
with humility in our dealings
with one another, resisting
the devil by being steadfast
in our faith in you (1 Peter 5:5, 9).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Easter Octave, 12 April 2023
Acts 3:1-10 ><}}}'> + <'{{{>< Luke 24:13-35
“The Road to Emmaus” painting by American Daniel Bonnell from fineartamerica.com.
Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ
in leading us back to you,
to Jerusalem in those
many nights of our lives
when we walked the opposite
direction of going back to Emmaus,
to our previous ways of life like
those two disciples on that
Easter afternoon.
Oh what a joy,
dearest Lord that even for a while
you walk with us going the
opposite direction,
listening to our frustrations and
disappointments when things do not
happen as we have planned and
expected; no coercions, no reprimands
except for calling us "foolish" and
"slow of the heart" to believe the
Scriptures (Lk.24:25) for that is
what we really are!
Forgive us, Jesus,
when we easily give up
to failures and shortcomings
that we leave you and your mission
entrusted to us; help us find our way
back to you, to Jerusalem!
Most especially,
keep our hearts "burning"
with love and zeal for you,
sharing you with others,
strengthening them,
raising them up like
what Peter and John did
to the crippled man at the
Beautiful Gate
as we continue to seek
you O Lord even
in darkness and emptiness,
sadness and losses,
sickness and failures.
Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Easter Octave, 10 April 2023
Acts 2:14, 22-33 ><)))"> + <"(((>< Matthew 28:8-15
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.
Did I hear you right,
my Lord Jesus Christ,
you called me "brother"
after I have abandoned you
on your Cross?
Then Jesus said to them (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary), Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Matthew 28:10
Yes, Lord Jesus.
I hear you every day,
each morning when I wake up
to a brand new day is like Easter Sunday
when you call me "brother" despite
my being like one of the Twelve
who abandoned you,
denied you,
even betrayed you!
Despite my sinfulness,
you forgive me,
you bless me,
most of all,
love me by calling me still
a brother!
Let me relish and savor
this truth,
this relationship
you have kept with me
but I have always forgotten
and taken for granted;
let me go back to Galilee
where you have called me,
where you have healed me,
where you have fed me,
where you have forgiven me;
let me go back to Galilee
to continue your work,
to continue crossing the seas
amid storms,
to continue walking by your side
even if I falter and fall behind
in this journey as your fisher of men.
Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise at Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2019.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Wednesday or "Spy Wednesday", 05 April 2023
Isaiah 50:4-9 >>> + <<< Matthew 26:14-25
Photo by author, balete tree at night, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
It is Holy Wednesday,
Lord Jesus Christ,
also known as "Spy Wednesday"
because it was at this time
Judas Iscariot agreed with
the chief priests to betray you.
Today, specifically tonight,
is the day of traitors and
betrayers that sad to say,
are we all many times.
Whenever we sin,
that is when we hand you over
Jesus for something else like
the thirty pieces of silver Judas was given;
but, there are times those betrayed
suffer alone, at a loss to whom
to turn to, for anyone who may encourage
them still in this life despite the pains
they have endured from loved ones who
handed them over to miseries and pains.
And so, dear Jesus, we pray
on this Holy Wednesday that we be like you
God's Suffering Servant gifted with
a well-trained tongue to speak words that
will rouse the weary and the betrayed;
that we may have the ears
willing to listen to the cries of those
betrayed and maligned;
most of all, that our faith in you
may be firm, O Lord,
so we may set our face like flint,
not giving in to violence
amid all the attacks of the evil ones,
the traitors and betrayers.
Make us firm, dear Jesus,
in our witnessing of you;
may we strive to put more love
in all our endeavors,
trusting only in you,
pure and undefiled that should
anyone betray us, we may always
be vindicated in you.
Amen.
40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 31 March 2023
Jeremiah 20:10-13 >>> +++ <<< John 10:31-42
Photo by author, 20 March 2023, Sacred heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City.
God our loving Father,
I am a sinner;
forgive me for always turning
my back from You,
for refusing to love
like Jesus Your Son;
but, despite my being a sinner,
You know very well how I love you,
You know everything about me,
how I strive repeatedly
because I trust in You.
I believe in You!
Like the psalmist,
I sing this day,
"I love you, O Lord,
my strength...
In my distress I called
upon the Lord
and cried out to my God;
from his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him
reached his ears"
(Psalm 18:2, 7).
Like Your prophet Jeremiah,
I could hear people,
even those closest to me,
denouncing my efforts to be
just and loving,
living Your precepts;
I could hear their whispering,
"on watch for any misstep of mine"
(Jeremiah 20:10).
Worst,
like Jesus Christ,
some have tried harming me
with their words and deeds!
Sometimes, I feel so low,
so sad how good would be
rewarded with evil by some.
But I trust in You,
dearest Father;
let me witness
Your love and mercy,
justice and kindness
despite my sinfulness
and weaknesses.
Be my strength and
my surety.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Sixth Week of the Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 12 February 2023
Sirach 15:15-20 ><]]]]'> 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 ><]]]]'> Matthew 5:17-37
Photo by author, Tagaytay City, 08 February 2023.
We are two days away from Valentine’s Day and a week from Ash Wednesday for the start of the Lenten Season. And our Gospel this Sunday speaks so much of how our hearts may be whole and pure like that of Jesus, filled with love for others as Christ’s disciples.
We are still with Jesus giving us his Sermon on the Mount. Last week we have heard him showing us the practical side of the beatitudes, of blessedness which is being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Today, Jesus elaborates to us the meaning of putting into practice our blessedness, of being the salt of the earth and light of the world by going right into our hearts in fulfilling the Laws in him as he clarified, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17).
Living our lives as disciples of Jesus means that we follow a standard or norm totally different from the world’s standard that has become very personalistic and self-centered. The late Pope emeritus Benedict XVII called it as “dictatorship of relativism” – no more absolutes, no more God nor morality to follow because everything is relative that had given rise to everyone invoking each one’s rights totally disregarding the rights of others especially the weakest and most vulnerable. Worst, as most people insist on their individual rights these days, they also forget the other aspect of every right which is responsibility. What happens now is the covering up of temptations of lust so as not to deal with it like the promotion of abortion and artificial contraceptives or of divorce as a solution to marital infidelities.
The problem is not with the laws but with the heart of every person.
Photo by author, Don Bosco Chapel on the Hill, Batangas, 08 February 2023.
Jesus is challenging us today to look into our hearts, placing the responsibility on every individual and not on the object of temptations or anger or lust. He is inviting us to lead our lives with integrity where we follow not only the letter of the law but more important, its spirit. This integrity calls us to a whole-hearted living whereby more than the beautiful words we speak, our lives, our very actions reveal we are the children of the Father in Christ Jesus, animated by the Holy Spirit.
See how Matthew composed and arranged the Lord’s teachings today; there is always the reminder from the Laws of the Old Testament followed by the Lord’s clarification of its deeper meaning and application.
You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.” But I say to you, do not swear at all. Let your “Yes” mean “Yes,” and your “No” mean “No.” anything more is from the evil one.
Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 33-34, 37
See how Jesus is directing us into his own heart, into the very heart of his Gospel found in the beatitudes we heard the other Sunday so that our hearts would also imitate. To be truly blessed, to be a salt of the earth and a light of the world is to have a clean, pure heart like Jesus, a heart filled with love and mercy. It is very difficult to do on our own but in the grace of Jesus Christ, it is doable.
At the very heart of Christ’s teachings today is the fact that not everything in life can be written and even fiscalized or enacted as a law. Human life is dynamic, always changing, supposedly for the best. Unfortunately, what we are seeing these days in history is decadence: when we are supposed to know more and know better, the more we are becoming less human, less personal because in our “reasoning”, what prevails upon us is our ego, our pride, our self-interests. These are what Jesus is attacking in his teachings today as he invites us to examine and cleanse our hearts, and to truly “feel” the depths and meaning of the Laws long given by God.
How sad that our usual argument against old laws is how they have become obsolete, not attuned with the times like the proponents of divorce. The problem is not with the natural order of things but us. And the tragedy is that we have not only polluted our hearts but also our minds, turning them away from God and from others.
Photo from reddit.com.
Very often, especially these days, many people insist on their freedom, on their power to choose forgetting that freedom is never absolute, that freedom demands also responsibilities. Though we are free to express our thoughts and feelings, it is not allowed to use the same freedom in spreading lies or maligning others.
The key to such “whole-hearted” living is found in our first reading from the Book of Sirach which emphasizes the meeting of the heart and the mind in God to choose, to decide and to do what is right, what is good.
If you choose, you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he has set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him. No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.
Sirach 15:15-17, 20
We have the natural laws etched by God in our hearts to always do good, to do no harm on others. We also have his words and teachings finally revealed and fulfilled in Jesus Christ that must guide us in making the right exercise of freedom, of choosing life not death. Here we have true integrity, the meeting of the mind and the heart at what is true, what is good!
Freedom is the ability to choose what is good. Moreover, to be free is also to decide knowingly. Freedom is diminished and impaired when judgement is disturbed. As the Latin saying goes, Mens sana in corpore sano – a sound mind in a sound body. That is why our responsorial psalm says it so well that “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord”.
One fine example of this blessed man who follows the Lord is our national athlete and the world’s number three pole vaulter, EJ Obiena.
A UST student who has represented us in various competitions including the 2020 Olympics in Japan, Obiena opened 2023 by winning two gold medals in four tournaments. Unfortunately due to usual red tapes and inefficiencies of those in government, Obiena had to skip the Asian Indoor Championship in Kazakhstan this weekend because of lack of logistical support and fundings. He never ran out of problems despite the many honors he had brought to our country in sports that in the process had shown us also his giftedness as an athlete and as a person with his good moral character.
What I like with him most is his passion for what is ethical, for what is right. He is very consistent with that. He is a man with an undivided heart, clearly inclined to what is true, good and just.
When people wrote and offered him help to join the competition in Kazakhstan, Obiena politely declined the offers because of ethical reasons, of “double-dipping” wherein he explained how the people have already given their share for him with their tax payments, that for them to give donations was too much already, even unjust.
Wow! Praise God for a man like Mr. Obiena! Truly a man with a heart full of passion in God, in what is right, what is true!
What EJ Obiena has consistently shown us – and taught us unconsciously – is the wisdom of God in Christ crucified, the favorite topic of St. Paul in his letters like the one we have heard earlier. See how Obiena was ready to suffer and sacrifice for what is true and good that so often, he is vindicated and has won our hearts and admiration.
This Sunday, let us listen more to God’s voice there in our heart, often the softest and most feeble covered by the more noisy sounds of the world. Let us look into our hearts and see if we have more of our selves, or of others? Of persons or things? Of laws or spirit of the laws? Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2023
Hebrews 10:1-10 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< - ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Mark 3:31-35
God our loving Father,
help us grow from being
your shadows into your
image and icon among peoples;
thank you for sending us
your Son Jesus Christ who came
to do your will of offering his
very self as a sacrifice for the
forgiveness of our sins
so that in the process,
we too may learn to
offer ourselves to you,
surrender ourselves wholly to
you like Jesus to become your mirror.
Brothers and sisters: Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year. Then he (Jesus) says, Behold, I come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Hebrews 10:1, 9-10
There are times, dear Jesus,
that I listen and speak of your words,
very much "inside" with you
in the church,
in our community,
among our family and friends;
but sadly, Lord, I am so far
from doing the will of the Father
after listening and preaching
your words.
Teach me to be like your Mother,
Mary: though she was "outside"
that house where you were staying
teaching the people gathered around you,
she was very much "inside",
in you in her total identification with you
and your mission until the end.
Enable me, Jesus,
like St. Francis de Sales
who used to have a fiery temper
and problem in handling his anger
to surrender myself to you,
to make the Father's will my own,
experience liberation from sin
and sanctification in your Spirit
to become united as one in
the Father, his mirror
and image.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 09 January 2023
Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ><}}}}*> Acts 10:34-38 ><}}}}*> Matthew 3:13-17
Photo by author, September 2022.
God our loving Father,
thank you for this most wonderful
Monday when we close
the Christmas Season
with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord,
we also celebrate the feast
of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo
which is the most popular
devotion in our predominantly
Catholic nation.
As you opened the heavens
with your outpouring of love
and life upon us today like
what happened at the baptism in Jordan,
open our minds and our hearts, Father,
to recognize Jesus as your Anointed One;
most of all, may our double celebrations
this Monday remind us of the need for us to mature
in our faith in you.
Photo from flickr.com by Mark S. Abeln, Resurrection Cemetery in Affton, Missouri, USA, 16 November 2010.
Fix our eyes on your Chosen One,
Jesus Christ, upon whom you have
put your Spirit who brought forth
salvation to us all,
not crying out,
not shouting,
not breaking a bruised reed
nor quenching a smoldering wick;
let us imitate the gentle humility
of your Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ
in whose person you have made your
covenant, a light for the nations,
healing us of our infirmities of
body and most especially of soul,
not yielding to anyone nor anything
because you and him are one
(cf. Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7).
Let us continue the teaching of Peter
in the house of Cornelius with our own
experiences and meditations, with our
own witnessing "of how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed
by the devil, for God was with him"
(Acts 10:38).
Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.
God our loving and merciful Father,
let us see Christ's presence and
coming in our lives daily,
his coming out of Jordan
with your mission to save us,
to journey with us in this life;
most of all, let us heed your voice,
Father, to be one in Jesus in all
sufferings and trials, standing
and fighting for truth and justice
even to the point of death on the
Cross because he is your beloved Son
with whom you are well pleased
(Matthew 3:16, 17).
Lord Jesus Christ,
our Nuestro Padre Nazareno,
make us realize that more than
the devotions and panata,
more than that lovely robe of your
royalty as King of kings,
help us penetrate your dark skin
in Quiapo to realize your being
called "Nazarene" does not only mean
your origin, Nazareth, but most of all,
from the Hebrew word "nezer" or shoot -
that you are, O Lord Jesus is the "shoot
from the stump of Jesse" (Is.11:1),
the one completely consecrated
to God from your mother's womb
until your death on the Cross.
Make us realize this, Jesus Nazareno,
that we too, in our baptism, are
consecrated to God: let us manifest
your love,
your justice,
your humility,
your healing,
your mercy
in our lives.
Amen.
