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.
It was a Monday morning when rains started falling as I was about to complete my first round of walks when I saw an old lady with a cane tripped on the inclined pavement. I ran to help her but in her frantic efforts to rise, she had dragged down her caregiver too.
Upon reaching the old lady, I asked her to keep herself down and take deep breaths while I checked her for possible injuries. Thank God there was none except a broken cane and perhaps a bruised amor propio as tears were rolling from her eyes while telling me, “nakakahiya naman sa inyo, Father.” I told her not to worry as I invited her to have a seat near our gate but, she seemed so embarrassed and left.
When I resumed my walking in the rains, the scene kept flashing in my mind and had me musing…
When we fall,
when we are down,
just be still
to feel the earth beneath
then roll your eyes to see
the skies above everything
between.
When we fall,
when we are down,
do not rush to rise up
do not be ashamed
you slipped
or tripped
there is no trick.
When we fall,
when we are down,
it is better to cry
to shed some tears
surely there are pains
and aches deep within
we have not yet seen.
When we fall,
when we are down,
people standing on ground
would always offer a hand
to help us stand
shake off dirt from us
even clean our hands.
When we fall,
when we are down,
everyone will understand that
no one, nothing remains up
all must go down;
it is time for us to be calm
Jesus is coming, our Good Samaritan.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, Religious, 04 October 2022
Galatians 1:13-24 ><000'> + <'000>< Luke 10:38-42
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual, bronze statue of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy, 2021.
Lord Jesus Christ: While I am so eager to recite the prayer for peace of your blessed St. Francis of Assisi today being his Memorial, thank you for making me realize in your words today that before St. Francis was recognized for his works that balanced everything in creation, help me first achieve balance in myself in prayer.
The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:41-42
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual of the fresco at the Assisi Basilica, Italy, 2021.
Let me grow closer to you first,
Lord Jesus Christ by loving you
among the poor and suffering,
by spending precious moments
under your Cross on bended knees
like St. Francis.
Let me grow closer to you first,
Lord Jesus Christ by loving you
as I value life more than ever in this
age of materialism, by making known to
everyone the value of every person,
the value of human life especially
at its weakest stages of pregnancy and
infancy like St. Francis who set up the
first Nativity scene at Grecchio.
Let me grow closer to you first,
Lord Jesus Christ by loving you
in deep prayers like St. Francis who
befriended even Death he had called
"cousin" in his beautiful Canticle of the Sun.
Lord Jesus Christ,
long before St. Francis came
and all the other saints, you have
shown us personally that prayer is
life's primary balancer,
equalizer; like St. Paul in the first
reading, may we personally feel
your coming to us in prayers
and moments of contemplation and
meditation because the more we become
active in life, the more we need to be
contemplative; balance in life happens
when the more we pray, the more we work;
and, as we work more, let us pray more too!
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual, detail of fresco with St. Francis at the Basilica of Assisi, Italy, 2021.
Most of all,
through the example of
St. Francis of Assisi,
let us handle life with prayer:
may we study hard,
work harder,
and
pray hardest!
Amen.
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi, Italy, September 2018.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 03 October 2022
Galatians 1:6-12 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 10:25-37
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 10 September 2022.
Praise and glory
to you, O God our loving Father!
Thank you for this great
Monday, the first working
day of October!
Stir into flame your gift
to me, dear God, (2 Tim. 1:6),
fill me with zest
fill me with passion
fill me with life
to forge on amid all
the difficulties and trials
this day
this week
may bring to me.
Like the zeal
and enthusiasm
of St. Paul,
let me be firm
in asserting your
Good News of salvation
in Christ Jesus:
"If I were still trying
to please people,
I would not be a slave
of Christ" (Galatians 1:10c).
Keep me faithful to you,
Lord, and stop me from
pretending somebody
else, impressing people
by claiming to be your
disciple in all of its outward
signs without your Cross.
Keep me faithful to you,
Lord and stop me from
seeking attention,
perks and privileges
to be famous by claiming
to be your disciple but
afraid to suffer, afraid of
losing, afraid of failures.
Keep me faithful to you,
Lord, not to the cultic
signs and symbols we have
developed in deepening our
faith in you but, like the
priest and the Levite in
your parable today,
have totally disregarded
the wounded and sick,
the abandoned and
lost, the sinful and poor.
Deepen my faith,
strengthen my faith
to have passion in doing
your works, Lord;
forgive me, Jesus,
when I think and see more
of efficiency and programs
without meeting and
experiencing persons,
building relationships
in you, with you, and
through you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 02 October 2022
Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4 ><}}}}'> 1 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14 ><}}}}'> Luke 17:5-10
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, Christ the King Celebration in our former parish assignment, November 2020.
Our gospel this Sunday may be short and brief but so power-packed that can put us into a knock out. In fact, the scene is very disarming that can throw off all our previously held beliefs to give us fresher perspectives on discipleship and faith.
Recall how these past consecutive Sundays that Jesus taught us the importance of God and persons above material wealth like money and possessions. Notice how these lessons were directed by Jesus to the Pharisees and scribes who were known as so obsessed with money. Hardly did we hear any reactions from the Twelve – nor from most of us – until now when they asked Jesus to “increase our faith” (Lk.17:5).
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Luke 17:5-6
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2021.
When we talk of faith,
it does not really matter how long
we have known each other,
or how much we have given and received,
or how much we have shared.
Faith is being one, being together,
of going the extra mile
because we believe, we trust, we love.
What elicited a reaction from the apostles? Or from us? Let’s admit the fact that many of us have felt the parables last two Sundays were not directly meant for us considering our professed “poverty” and “simplicity” in life. But, when Jesus spoke of the need to forgive those who sin against us every time they come saying sorry, the apostles realized that needed a lot of faith.
And rightly so.
When it comes to hurting our pride and ego, something deeper is at play, something so close to our person is involved than when we lose a material thing. Like the apostles, we have felt how much faith in God is demanded from us to forgive especially those who repeatedly offend us, that on our own we cannot do it.
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 10 September 2022.
Hence, their request (that is also ours) to “increase our faith” because forgiving requires a lot of faith, a lot of love; however, faith is like love that cannot be quantified nor measured because like love, faith is also a relationship.
Our relationship with God and with one another is seen always in the kind of intensity we have for each other. My generation used to call it as “vibes” or vibrations, of how we are one with the other person, of how we are in communion or aligned and attuned with the other person. When we talk of faith, it does not really matter how long we have known each other, or how much we have given and received, or how much we have shared. Faith is being one, being together, of going the extra mile because we believe, we trust, we love.
This is the reason that Jesus followed up his answer to the Twelve’s request with a parable of the unworthy servants who came home after working from the field and still waited on their master at dinner; then, after fulfilling their tasks, they simply told their master “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do” (Lk. 17:10). There was no real relationship between the master and slaves except their job or task and responsibility. If it were a faith relationship, the servants would have done more than just waiting on their master because they would have believed in him!
When our faith is true, when our faith is burning like the reminder of St. Paul to Timothy in the second reading, it means we are focused with the object of our faith who are God and our loved ones. We need not be reminded of things to do, of our obligations; when there is faith in us, our focus is keeping the relationship alive and well that we go the extra mile in lovingly serving our loved ones which is discipleship is all about.
That is how faith as a relationship
may be described these days:
like an online class, an online meeting,
even online Mass when sometimes
you really wonder if there is somebody listening
or paying attention at the other side of the screen
but you just go on...
Photo by author, Makati skyline from Antipolo, August 2022.
People who are deeply in love are first of all one with their loved ones that they are able to do great things because of their intense and vibrant faith that keep them united. With a burning faith inside us, we are able to love the unloveable, forgive the most despicable, achieve what others claim as impossible.
Just think of the saints like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta or the very young St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Or, the great martyrs of Auschwitz, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and St. Maximilian Kolbe. There is no way of measuring how much faith they have in Jesus Christ and humanity but we can learn from their lives the intensity of their faith and love for God and others that they did the impossible!
Very interesting was the faith too of the late Mother Angelica who founded and started EWTN that is now the largest Catholic media organization in the world. She knew nothing about broadcasting yet, all she had was faith in God and in people that she was able to overcome every obstacle to make what EWTN right now.
Think of the big corporations and enterprises around you; they all started so small in material resources but so intense in faith and conviction that they have all grown to become the leading institutions in whatever field they are into. Sometimes, believers are described as visionaries because people with deep faith see beyond what others can perceive. Remember how Jesus would remind his apostles on different occasions to “believe so that you will see” that runs opposite what the world tells us with “to see is to believe”. People who are faithful, those who believe are the ones who can truly see, not the other way around. Faithful people have vision.
Photo by author, Pangsinan, April 2022.
Prayer is the primary expression of our faith as a relationship that we just keep on doing because we believe it is good even if it is so difficult especially when nothing seems to be happening at all. We just keep on praying, believing and hoping that God is with us, very similar to our online experiences these past two years of the pandemic when many times, we wonder if there is somebody listening or paying attention at the other side of the screen! But, call it faith and relationship that we just went on with our classes and work including prayers and Masses online because we believe someone, especially God, is at the other side, even beside us!
We have not seen God but we have all experienced his love and kindness, his mercy and forgiveness that even if nothing happens like Habakkuk in the first reading, we just keep on praying (and loving) because our relationship remains intact with God who is faithfully by our side.
When our faith is alive and vibrant, we get closer to God and with others, we become more loving and caring and kind, understanding and patient and forgiving, finding ways and means to love and serve God in others.
God knows what is best for us. He has gifted us with enough faith. Let us ask him not just to increase our faith but most of all, to deepen, strengthen, and perfect our faith so that our ties and bonds as family and friends and community of disciples be stronger in Jesus Christ, both in good times and in bad. Amen.
Have a blessed week ahead!
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2014.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-30 ng Setyembre 2022
Larawan kuha ng may akda, bukang liwayway sa Lawa ng Tiberias, Israel, Mayo 2019.
Kay sarap namnamin,
kaninang pagkagising
Iyong tugon Panginoon namin
sa mga tanong ni Job
na amin ding dinaraing
sa gitna ng maraming hirap at tiisin:
"Job,
nakalikha ka ba
kahit isang bukang liwayway?
Ang daigdig ba ay ang iyong
naigawa ng tanglaw?
Napunta ka na ba sa
pinagmumulan ng bukal?
Nakalakad ka na ba sa
pusod ng karagatan?
Alam mo ba kung saan nanggaling
ang liwanag, o and kadiliman,
kung saan nagbubuhat?
Ang mga ulap ba iyong mauutusan
sa lupa ay magbuhos ng malakas na ulan?"
(Aklat ni Job 38:12-13, 16, 19, 34)
Inyong ipagpaumanhin
Panginoong namin
kapangahasan Ikaw ay tanungin,
usisain kapag mabigat aming pasanin
kami ay patawarin
katulad ni Job iyong dinggin:
"Narito, ako'y hamak,
walang kabuluhan,
walang maisasagot,
bibig ay tatakpan
hindi na kikibo,
mga nasabi'y di na uulitin"
(Aklat ni Job 40:4-5).
Hinding hindi namin
makakayang sagutin
ni arukin kalaliman
nitong maraming lihim
ng buhay lalo't kung madilim;
sana'y Iyong dalisayin, Panginoon
aking mga paningin, upang Ikaw ay
malasin tulad ng kulay ng hangin!
Larawan kuha ni Bb. Jo Villafuerte, pagbubukang liwayway sa Atok, Benguet, Setyembre 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Jerome, Priest & Doctor of the Church, 30 September 2022
Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 10:13-16
God our loving Father,
open my eyes
open my mind
open my heart and soul
to your majesty
to experience your
immense mystery
so profoundly
unthinkable
unexplainable
yet so true
that it can be felt
and experienced
because we live
in you though we
are not aware.
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place for taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface? The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment. Have you entered the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Job 38:1, 12-14, 16-18
Dearest Father,
many times I have asked you
so many questions
and would still have more to
follow you up with but,
when I contemplate
your love and presence
in my life,
among the people you
have surrounded me with,
then I realize
you are all questions
that in itself more than enough
for me to see, even imagine you!
Like Job,
let me remain silent
and be wrapped by
your majesty
and glory!
Then job answered the Lord and said: Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth. Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more.
Job 40:3-5
Open my eyes
in Jesus your Son
to appreciate more
your coming
your loving presence
your healing
O God our Father;
let me listen
and be more attentive
to Jesus,
your Word who became
flesh to dwell
among us;
like St. Jerome,
give me the grace
to read and study
especially to pray
your Sacred Scriptures
each day of my life
to be still
and remain
in you always.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, & Raphael, Archangels, 29 September 2022
Revelation 12:7-12 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> John 1:47-51
Jesus answered and said to him (Nathanael), “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
John 1:50-51
O dearest Jesus,
my Lord and my God,
I have believed like Nathanael
but until now,
I have not lived totally
in you and with you!
It was in your coming, Jesus,
the angels have become
most truest when you opened
the heavens for us,
when you the Son of God
came to dwell among us
so that through you God comes
to us and we through you go to him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. They conquered him the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them.”
Revelation 12:10, 11-12a
Archangels Michael,
Gabriel and Raphael,
enable us,
lead us to be like you:
always listening to God's
voice, making his words
our very lives as we come
to him in faith and complete
surrender so that life and healing,
good news and power
from him
may flow
to mankind
through us.
Amen.
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-28 ng Setyembre 2022
Larawan mula sa commons.wikimedia.org ng painting na “Job on the Dunghill” ni Gonzalo Carrasco ng Mexico noong 1881.
O Panginoong ko,
turuan mo ako na tularan
si Job na iyong lingkod,
tapat at walang pasubali
pananampalataya sa iyo;
katulad ni Job
ako man ay makadaing sa Iyo
ng buong giliw at pagtitiwala
sa dinaranas na hirap at hilahil;
katulad ni Job
ako man ay magsuri at magnilay
sa Iyong kadakilaang taglay,
magtanong at makinig,
manahimik at namnamin
kaysa Ikaw ay usisain;
katulad ni Job
mapagtanto ko mga
katanungan sa buhay ay
hindi tulad ng mga tanong sa paaralan
mga sagot ay kaagad matatagpuan
sa Google o sa computer
o sa pormula ng matematika;
katulad ni Job
hayaan mo po ako na mabalot
ng Iyong hiwaga Panginoon
patuloy na tumugon sa
maraming paghamon
na sa tamang panahon,
ako man ay makaaahon
matatag at dalisay
aking katauhan
matalik ang ugnayan
sa Iyo at sa kapwa nahihirapan;
katulad ni Job
mas nanaisin ko rin
na lumakad sa gitna ng dilim
hindi ka man tanaw ng aking paningin
basta Ikaw ang kapiling
kaysa tumahak sa huwad na liwanag
ng mundo, lugod at bisyo ang gusto!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2022
Job 9:1-12, 14-16 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 9:57-62
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, of a Philippine Serpent Eagle at the Sierra Madre, Quezon Province, July 2022.
Life is truly a mystery,
O God our loving Father!
Filled with so many twists
and turns, bends and
corners that lead
and open us to
new vistas,
new situations,
new sceneries
that make us closer
to finding you and
experiencing you.
Job answered his friend and said: God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him.
Job 9:1, 4, 9-11
Like Job
and St. Lorenzo Ruiz,
many times our hearts cry
out to you unable to understand
at how and why so many bad things
are happening to us, sometimes we
feel overburdened almost giving up
but still in the end, we persevere
because we believe in you,
we cannot go without you
for we would rather go in darkness
assured of your presence than in
light without you on our side.
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Luke 9:57-58
Grant us, dear Jesus,
the grace of true freedom to
choose you always freely,
to be free from any attachments
with the world and worldly
except you whom we follow
wholeheartedly like St. Lorenzo Ruiz
and companion martyrs..
And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:59-60
Grant us too, dear Jesus,
the grace to live in the present,
to be always in every here and now,
learning from the past,
forging ahead onto the future
to preach the good news of
salvation urgently,
joyfully!
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61-62
Lastly like St. Lorenzo,
teach us dear Jesus to be firm
in our decision in following you,
to stop entertaining thoughts
of turning back from your mission,
thoughts of seeking comforts
and other personal benefits
except of doing and fulfilling
your most Holy Will
unto death.
Amen.
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