The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 06 December 2022
Isaiah 40:1-11 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 18:12-14
Comfort food
Comfort zone
Comfort room!
How funny these days
things and ideas are supposed
to comfort us but in reality do not.
Thank you very much, dearest
God our Father, for this gift of
the Advent Season when you
truly comfort us again.
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Isaiah 40:1-3
Like your words yesterday,
today's prophecy by Isaiah
are very comforting: to comfort,
from the words "cum" and "fortis"
that mean "with strength" means
exactly that - give strength, make
strong again!
Nothing can truly give us strength
no one can truly give us comfort
except you, our loving Father,
who "had expiated all our sins"
and "given us double for all our sins"
in the coming of Jesus Christ,
our Good Shepherd.
Make us realize, Father,
that nothing and no one can truly
comfort us in the truest sense -
soothe and heal our pains,
allow us to cry and be our true selves,
most of all, give us strength to go on
with life again amid all the pains and
sorrows except Jesus Christ.
Let us be like Jesus the Good Shepherd
to others in pain due to sickness
and hurts in life, giving them comfort,
by helping them find direction and
meaning in life,
joy and peace,
someone to listen to them
and be a companion in this
life journey and most of all,
find you again in themselves,
in their giftedness as persons
to be renewed and be strong again.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Advent, 06 December 2022
Isaiah 35:1-10 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 5:17-26
Photo by author, 2019.
As we move forward
in this Season of Advent,
getting closer each day to the
Second Coming of Jesus Christ
who comes in every here and now too,
grant us, O God, the grace to lead
others closer to you.
Like those men who carried
the paralyzed man closer to Jesus
by going through the roof to lower him,
enlighten us Lord in finding ways to
reach out to those who have left our fold,
those who have been disillusioned with
the human elements of the Church,
and those who find it to difficult, even scary or
discomforting to move on in life;
we are weak and limited,
ourselves also disillusioned
at times.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those who hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God; he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing.
Isaiah 35:3-6
Strengthen our hands first
for we are the ones also feeble;
make firm our knees
for we are also weak;
most of all, embolden our hearts
for we are fearful too in doing
what is good,
in doing your will.
Thank you, dear God our Father,
despite our weaknesses and sins,
you still call us to do your work
in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Second Sunday in Advent, Cycle A, 04 December 2022
Isaiah 11:1-10 ><}}}*> Romans 15:4-9 ><}}}*> Matthew 3:1-12
Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images, 09 February 2020, Baclaran Church.
Many years from now, future generations will surely discuss these years of our COVID-19 pandemic, with everyone talking about the face masks we wore. Imagine your great grandchildren repeatedly asking their parents why we were covering our faces during this time.
But, these face masks were also the signs of blessing during this pandemic, teaching us to look onto the face of one another, to recognize each one as brother and sister in Christ. I believe these face masks are reminders from God of how we have forgotten to look and value each one as persons to be loved and cared for, respected and protected.
What a beautiful sight when people meet, exchanging glances, adjusting their glasses and face masks to recognize each one again!
In the Book of Genesis, we are told how God created us in his image and likeness that remind us of his “face” even if we know God is spirit. Face means more than the physical face of the person. It reveals in the most undeniable manner one’s state or condition, of what is in him/her. When a person is filled with goodness and love, joy and contentment or, bitterness and hate, evil and sin, we say it is “written all over his/her face”.
Remember Mang Dodong of Caloocan City who was detained for almost a month in Navotas for not having proper ID’s during the lockdown of March 2020 after he tried to buy fish in order to sell in their neighborhood? At the same time when it happened, there was the shameless news of police throwing a birthday bash to their chief in total disregard of the protocols? The injustice against the poor prevailing then and now was all written in Mang Dodong’s face in the news.
Mang Dodong of Caloocan City, photo by Mr. Vincent Go, May 2020.
Here lies the challenge of Advent 2022, the first face-to-face Christmas we shall have in two years since the pandemic when we have to cover our faces with face masks: have I shown God with others on my face? Or maybe, the better question should be, do I see the face of God in the people I meet?
This Second Sunday of Advent, the gospel invites us if like John the Baptist, do we see Jesus Christ coming among us? Do we see him in ourselves and in others?
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
Matthew 3:1-3
“St. John the Baptist Preaching in the Wilderness” by German painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) from commons.wikimedia.org.
John is our second guide during Advent next to the Prophet Isaiah. John did not only see the coming of Christ but he also showed the Christ had come.
Why did people come to listen to him and be baptized from all over Israel at that time?
His preaching must be so powerful and convincing because people must have also seen in him Christ’s coming. In fact, people of his time thought he was already the Messiah everyone was awaiting. But John was very clear in his preaching that he was not the One.
Such was the power of John’s preaching. Everyone believed him because he did not merely point to the coming of Christ but showed them too Christ already present in him. No wonder, he would be the first to die for Jesus and like Jesus by standing for what is true and good.
How was John able to do this?
Aside from the power of the Holy Spirit that came upon him while still in his mother’s womb during Mary’s visitation, John went to a sort of quarantine too – an Advent – when he left the comforts of his affluent family to live a simple life in the desert.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
Matthew 3:4
Last Sunday, we have reflected that Advent is a Sabbath when we rest to be breathed on by God, to be filled with God and his Spirit by first emptying ourselves of our sins and pride. Most of all, in coming to the wilderness empty and simple, John showed the importance of prayer, of relying solely to God. It was prayer that sustained John in the desert and it is prayer that would sustain us during this Advent. In fact, we need to handle life with prayer in order to see Christ coming and most of all, to show Christ to others.
In calling for conversion, John challenged the people of his time too to bear fruits in their efforts of seeing the coming Messiah. All these emptying and sacrifices and being breathed on by God must always be evident not only for everyone to see but for each one to truly experience Christ’s coming.
A painting based on Is.11:1-10 called “Peaceable Kingdom” by American EdwardHicks, a Quaker pastor (1780-1849).
In the first reading, Isaiah reminds us that Advent is a time also of healing when we learn to be small again, even to die in our selves to give way for the coming of the Lord.
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him… Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted… Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.
Isaiah 11:1-2, 3, 4, 5-9
This for me is one of the loveliest scenes in the Old Testament: aside from the poetry of Isaiah, imagine how God envisions for us a “peaceable kingdom” where humans and animals live together in harmony, when there would be no more harm or ruin on everyone!
So beautiful!
And so possible if we can be like John the Baptist with our eyes seeing more beyond the physical realities of this world by being small again like the shoot, even of dying to one’s self like a stump.
It is only in our littleness, in our barrenness and death can we truly see and find Jesus. But, the moment we see Christ in us, it is no longer difficult to recognize him on others as well as find him in all creation. If we could fine tune our eyes to Jesus and live in one accord with God and everyone as St. Paul calls us in the second reading, then Christ becomes present among us in the world with his peace.
Let us pray on this Second Sunday of Advent that we not only see Jesus coming but also show him present in us and among us so that when we go to our places of work, we do not just “earn a living” but also work on building the kingdom of God here on earth.
Let us pray that beginning this second Sunday of Advent that we not only see Jesus but also show him present in us and among us so that whenever we post on social media, we also build relationships in Christ.
Have a blessed week everyone!
Let us pray on this Second Sunday of Advent that the next time we give donations and help to people in need, it is Jesus whom we find in them so that we go the extra mile in our efforts to uplift them and truly make a “shoot sprout forth from the stump” of this dying earth so that the bud of God’s kingdom may finally blossom in us. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Friday in the First Week of Advent, 02 December 2022
Isaiah 29:17-24 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 9:27-31
Your words today,
O God our Father,
are so comforting,
so delightful!
Thus says the Lord God: but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 29:17-19
In your Son's coming,
Jesus Christ,
all our shame were wiped away
including our sins;
this Advent, help us to rise
again from our falls
and failures, Lord Jesus;
remember us as we
remember our sinfulness,
as we acknowledge our
blindness.
We want to see again,
Lord Jesus, with heads
up high,
no longer ashamed of
our sins and infidelities
to you; wash and cleanse
us, Jesus this Advent season
as we reform our lives
and our ways
to reflect your coming,
your presence,
your love and
your dignity in us.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the First Week of Advent, 01 December 2022
Isaiah 26:1-6 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 7:21, 24-27
Thank you, dear God,
our loving Father,
for this month of December,
for the year about to end,
most especially for this new
beginning of Advent!
Make us strong
like your new city of Jerusalem:
"A strong city have we;
he sets up walls and ramparts
to protect us" (Is.26:1) - Jesus Christ
who had come, will come again
and comes!
Many times your strength
in us, O God, could not be felt
nor experienced because we have
been weak in doing what is good;
many times with closed minds and
hearts believing only in ourselves
than being open to welcome Jesus
your Son into our lives;
many times, we profess our faith
in you only in words and mouth,
calling out "Lord, Lord"
without conviction
and concrete action
as a disciple;
make us wise, Lord, and return
to you to build up our faith,
to build up our lives,
to build up our ties and
relationships in you through
others.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the First Week of Advent, Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, 30 November 2022
Romans 10:9-18 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 4:18-22
Brothers and sisters: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
If Advent is the preparation
for your coming, Lord Jesus Christ,
then Advent is also the preparation
for the coming of your Cross!
As St. Paul had taught us in all his
writings, there can be no proclamation of
of your salvation for us without preaching
your Cross, O Lord Jesus Christ!
Without your Cross, O Lord,
all your words and deeds
would be empty;
that is why, there is no saint
without a love for your Cross!
Teach us to love the cross
you have assigned each of us
because it is on the Cross
where you are found, Lord Jesus;
like St. Andrew, make us realize
that our own crosses can only have value
if we consider and accept them
as part of your own Cross;
though our crosses may be
of different shapes or colors,
each one is always a reflection of
your eternal light, dear Jesus,
that ennobles our sufferings and pains.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the First Week of Advent, 29 November 2022
Isaiah 11:1-10 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 10:21-24
God our loving Father:
Thank you for this gift of Advent,
especially for the gift of our guide,
your prophet Isaiah who was the first
to announce from afar
the coming of the Christ,
your Son Jesus.
And today he speaks your words
that are so beautiful and lovely
but, so radical and contrary
to what we believe,
to what we always hold on to.
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
Isaiah 11:1
How wonderful,
that when Jesus finally came,
he called us to be small again,
to be weak and insignificant
like children even to the point
of being nothing, of losing and
dying in one's self.
A day
a shoot sprouting
and a stump.
Then, a bud
shall blossom.
Empty me, O God,
of myself and everything
that fills me so that you
may fill me with your spirit
and form me into your
desired being;
keep me rooted in you
through Christ who had come,
would come again and
comes always.
If I have to be reduced
even to a mere stump,
let it be, Lord;
grant me patience to await
the sprouting of a shoot
until the bud comes
forth to bloom
and make us experience
Isaiah's prophecy:
"Then the wolf shall be a guest
of the lamb, the leopard shall
lie down with the kid;
the calf and young lion shall
browse together with a little child
to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be
neighbors, together their young
shall rest while the lion eat hay
like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the
adder's lair" (cf. Is. 11:6-9).
Keep us awake, Jesus
as we await and work
for your peaceful presence
here and now. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Nobyembre 2022
Larawan kuha ng may akda, Nobyembre 2022.
Sa lahat ng Pasko
nating naipagdiwang
itong darating ay makahulugan:
pagkaraan ng dalawang taon
ng lockdown at social distancing
dahil sa COVID-19,
sama-sama tayo muli magdiriwang
ng harap-harapan o "face-to-face"
sa tahanan at simbahan,
lansangan at mga pasyalan.
Kung tutuusin,
face-to-face ang diwa ng Pasko
kaya nagkatawang-tao ang Diyos-Anak
at sumilang katulad natin upang
Diyos-Ama na maibigin ay personal
na makilala at maranasan
katulad ng isang kapwa
mayroong katawan at kamalayan,
buhay at kaugnayan na tuwina ay
masasandigan at maaasahan.
Gayon din ay pagmasdan,
Disyembre beinte-singko ngayong taon
papatak sa araw ng Linggo:
ito ba ay nagkataon o niloob ng Panginoon
na matapos ang dalawang taon
sa Kanyang kaarawan tayo ay magdiwang
puno ng kahulugan,
namnamin Kanyang kabutihan
sapagkat hindi tayo kinalimutan
o pinabayaan sa pandemyang nagdaan?
Larawan kuha ng may akda, Adbiyento 2021.
Ngayong Kapaskuhan
huwag pabayaang maging ganun lang
ating paghahanda sa pagdiriwang:
abangan si Hesus araw-araw
dumarating, sumisilang sa ating katauhan
kaya mga face masks ng pagkukunwari
ay hubarin at alisin, magpakatotoo
nang si Kristo makitang totoo;
hugasan at linisin mga kamay
maging bibig upang talikuran
mga kasinungalingan at karuwagang
maninindigan sa katotohanan at kabutihan;
mga palad, puso at kalooban
ay buksan upang abutin at tanggapin
bawat kapwa bilang kapatid
kay Kristong Panginoon natin!
Kailanma'y hindi napigilan
pagdiriwang ng Pasko
kahit ng mga digmaan at kalamidad
bagkus mga ito pa nagpatingkad
sa liwanag at kahulugan nito;
hindi pa tapos ang pandemya
kaya ngayong Pasko ng 2022,
huwag kabahan
pawiin agam-agam
lapitan at samahan bawat isa
upang magkahawahan
hindi ng corona virus kungdi
ng tuwa at kagalakan
ng pagsilang at pagliligtas
ni Jesu-Kristo sa ating
puso at katauhan palagian.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the First Week of Advent, 28 November 2022
Isaiah 4:2-6 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Matthew 8:5-11
Photo by author, 27 November 2022.
Thank you very much,
dear Jesus for the gift of Advent,
for your promise to come again
after you have come
and still come;
let me come rejoicing
to your house, O Lord!
I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the house of the Lord.” And now have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. Because of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you!” Because of the house of the Lord, our God, I will pray for your good.
Psalm 122: 1-2, 8-9
As I look back to 2022 about to end,
the more I believe in your Second Coming,
Lord Jesus; with grateful heart,
I praise and thank you, Lord,
in letting us survive this year,
in letting us survive this pandemic
as you washed us all clean from our sins
that was long seen by Isaiah
and fulfilled in your coming.
Let me come to you, Lord,
like that centurion,
filled with faith and trust
in his belief in you,
in your powerful coming
even in words.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
First Sunday of Advent-A, 27 November 2022
Isaiah 2:1-5 ><}}}}*> Romans 13:11-14 ><}}}}*> Matthew 24:37-44
Photo by author, November 2022.
A blessed happy new year to everyone!
Yes, our new year in the Church begins this Saturday evening as we usher Advent Season, the four Sundays before Christmas which also falls on a Sunday this year. What a truly blessed Christmas we are having this year since COVID-19 came in 2020. For the first time in two years, we are celebrating Christmas face-to-face which is the essence of the event when the Son of God became human like us in everything except sin so we may experience God in person!
Like a light piercing through the darkness of the night – here and today – we experience Jesus Christ’s coming to us this Christmas 2022 most true that his call in the gospel is so appropriate especially at this time.
Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your day will come.
Matthew 24:37, 39-42
Photo by author, November 2022.
“Therefore, stay awake!”
Staying awake does not mean not going to sleep. In fact, for us to be awake, we have to sleep and be fully rested always to be awake and alert whether at night or at day.
That is why Advent is a sabbath, a day of the Lord when we pause to rest and allow God to fill us with his breath and spirit so we may be more attuned with Christ’s coming.
To rest in Filipino is “magpahinga” that literally means to be breathed on. Sabbath as a day of rest is to be breathed on by God, “magpahinga sa Diyos, mahingahan ng Diyos”. Unless we are filled with the breath of God, with his spirit, we will never experience Christ’s coming to us this Advent nor this Christmas nor at any time.
This is the whole point of Christ’s teaching today. Advent is an invitation for us to examine and review our attitudes to life, to God, and to others. Like in the gospel, Jesus reminds us how we conduct ourselves in this life, of being attuned to the Holy Spirit, lest “one is taken and the other one will be left”.
Life has been so difficult for everyone these past two years. Some of us have lost a loved one or relatives and friends to COVID. Many have lost their businesses or career and many other opportunities in life. And sadly, there are others who have lost or wounded and bruised relationships too.
But, have we also lost ourselves that in the process lost God too that we have lost all sense of decency and kindness with one another?
Photo by author, November 2022.
The other day, a former classmate suddenly texted me, saying hi and asking when she and her husband may visit me. Such messages coming out of the blue from anyone – especially her – make me wonder what’s wrong? What’s her problem this time?
She said she just wanted to keep in touch, reminding me how she has always been grateful for my help and prayers. However, she insisted that if we can’t meet, can I send her a prayer via text message because according to her, my prayers and blessings have “magic” as they always come true considering her prospering business and finally, her youngest child about to finish medicine.
I did not answer her until afternoon by sending her a prayer she had requested. And a reminder to her that my prayers have no magic powers nor lucky charms. I told her, “you are blessed abundantly by God because he loves you very much. Because he knows how well you pray hard and strive to be good and fair in your dealings with others. Most of all, because you are grateful. Keep serving the Lord.”
Many times even in our faith and spiritual life, we believe more in luck or swerte than in God as a person loving us, blessing us. That is why our faith has no communal dimension at all because we remain self-centered even in our worship and faith without even finding and experiencing God himself in Jesus Christ who had come to us more than 2000 years ago in Bethlehem.
On this first Sunday of Advent, we are reminded to rekindle in our hearts that ardent desire for God and his kingdom, for the return or Second Coming of Jesus Christ who had come and remains with us, and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to keep us awake in finding God always in us and in others.
This first Sunday of Advent is calling us to fine tune our attitudes to God anew, to recall the beautiful lessons of this COVID-19 pandemic we now seem to have forgotten totally like importance of God and prayers, of one another, and value of life.
Like the prophecy of Isaiah in the first reading, we find ourselves today in the same situation of many wars going on not only in Ukraine or Mindanao but also in our families and communities yet, we continue to march forward to God’s final fulfillment of his promises. Imagine and feel the prophecy of Isaiah:
“Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may in his paths. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Isaiah 2:3, 4-5
Photo by author, November 2022.
What a lovely imagery of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks as we walk in the light of the Lord that is happening NOW!
That is one of the challenges of our Advent preparation which is to open our eyes, our minds and our hearts (and arms too!) to find and welcome Jesus Christ already present with us, right here and right now!
That can only happen if we can rest this Advent in the Lord through prayers and meditations of his words that are so rich these days; of having silent moments to find ourselves anew instead of going back to our old ways of crazy Christmas rush shopping and the many external preparations that have become more of a show or a palabas.
Advent is a sabbath calling us to come home to God, to find him in Jesus Christ who had come and comes daily inside us, in our family and friends, in everyone and in various occasions and event in our lives. When we find God, that is also when we find our true selves. And that is Christmas – the coming together of man and God.
Advent is a sabbath when we go back to paradise which last Sunday we find also on the Cross with Jesus Christ as he promised Dimas with “today you shall be with me in Paradise” when God takes charge of everything and we just follow him.
Advent is a sabbath when we recover that original attitudes of man and woman to obey God always, to find more of our goodness and of others and nature, and to live in God’s presence.
Let us heed the call of St. Paul to struggle not only to be morally upright in life but most of all to share the light of Christ when he asked us “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh” (Rom.13;14) so that we become his very presence in this world.
Let us rest in Jesus so we may be awake in his comingin every here and now. Amen.Have a blessed and restful week, everyone!
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