Tatlong linggo nang maulan,
makulimlim at mapanglaw ang
kalangitan habang dumaragsa naman
mga kahilingan ng pananalangin sa akin
para sa maraming may sakit at karamdaman
ngunit, wala isa man sa kanila ang humiling
na gumaling maliban sa pangalan nila ay
aking sambitin sa Panginoong butihin.
Madalas mga nagpapadasal
hiling lang naman ay panalangin -
hindi sinasabi kung para saan o
marahil ipinapalagay naunawaan na
kanilang ibig sabihin; gayon pa man,
sa aking paningin maganda itong gawain
tulad ng matutunghayan natin sa unang
pagbasa sa Misa kaninang umaga:
Noong mga araw na iyon, nagkasakit nang malubha si Ezequias, kaya siya’y dinalaw ni Isaias na anak ni Amoz. Sinabi niya sa hari ang utos na ito ng Panginoon: “Ipatawag mo ang iyong sambahayan at gawin mo na ang iyong mga huling habilin, sapagkat hindi ka na gagaling.” Pagkarinig nito, humarap siya sa dingding at nanalangin. “O Panginoon, alam mo kung paano ako namuhay sa iyong harapan. Naglingkod ako sa iyo nang tapat at ang ginawa ko’y pawang nakalulugod sa iyong paningin.” Pagkatapos, nanangis siya nang malakas.
Isaias 38:1-3
Pagmasdan at pagnilayan
panalangin ni Haring Ezequias:
wala siyang hiniling na gumaling
maliban sa alalahanin ng Diyos
kanyang naging buhay na matapat
at masunurin sa mga banal na alituntunin
kaya siya ay pinagaling
pati buhay niya ay napahaba din!
Maraming biyaya ang Diyos
na binibigay sa atin na hindi
naman natin hinihiling dahil
batid Niya ang mabuti sa atin
bukod sa alam niya ating saloobin;
sa pagdarasal hindi mahalaga ating
mausal kungdi maranasan Kanyang
kapanatilihan at mapakinggan Kanyang kalooban.
Batid ng Diyos
lahat ng ating pinagdaraanan
lalo ng mga may sakit at karamdaman
kaya sa ating pananalangin
damhin natin Siya ay kapiling
sarili ay maihain, tanggapin ating sasapitin
dahil sa pagsuko ng sarili natin
doon nagsisimula ating pag-galing!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2020.
O Diyos Ama namin,
dama mo hirap at dusa namin
pati mga takot at pagaalinlangan
lalo na kapag may nagkakasakit sa amin;
tulungan po Ninyo kami sa Iyo
aming sarili ay maisuko,
manalig na kami ay hindi madaraig
dahil nagtagumpay na si Hesus sa
sakit at kamatayan upang kami ay
mabuhay magpakailanman.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 15 July 2022
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Matthew 12:1-8
Photo by author, 2020.
Praise and glory to you,
our loving God and Father
for another week that had passed,
we are halfway through July,
and most of all,
thank you for all the wonderful
gifts and blessings you
have given us without us even asking
you these.
Truly, that is how much you love us
which we fail to recognize, of how you
lavish us with blessings we never asked
for but so necessary, so important.
Teach us to be like you, God: to be more
loving than precise in keeping tabs
with our obligations;
Teach us to be like King Hezekiah in
the first reading: he never asked to be
healed of his sickness nor be given
another chance to live when told he
would die; he simply reminded you of how good
and kind he had been all his life, of "how faithfully
and wholeheartedly" he conducted himself in
serving you that you.
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go, tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of your Father David: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you; in three days you shall go up to the Lord’s temple; I will add fifteen years to your life.”
Isaiah 38:4-5
Forgive us, Father,
when we get to focused with
the letters of your laws like
the Pharisees that we forget its
aim which is for us to love you
more through the people we meet,
the people who come to us asking
for help.
May we love more than
obey your laws;
May we put more love
in our obedience to you
and your laws, Father;
Like St. Bonaventure, may
we seek answers to our many
questions in God's grace,
not in doctrine; in the longing
of the will, not in the understanding;
in the sighs of prayer, not in research;
and look not to the light but rather
to the raging fire that carries the soul
to God with intense fervor and
glowing love.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, 14 July 2022
Isaiah 26:7-9, 11, 16-19 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 11:28-30
From argusleader.com
God our loving Father,
thank you for sending us
your Son Jesus Christ to clarify
to us what is really to be "light"
in this age when we always want
to have our cake and eat it too!
When we are so obsessed in being "light",
with everything that is "light" especially
food and drinks that would give us
the satisfaction minus the guilt
feelings of calories and sugar, fats and carbs.
For the world, being "light" means
being easy but Jesus tells us it is
not true at all.
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Help us realize,
please enlighten our minds
and hearts that being "light"
still means carrying our
cross but this time with you;
being "light" does not mean
doing everything and anything
lightly without any sense of
responsibilities like what the light
food and drinks try to portray
that resulted to nothing as
Israel had experienced when they
turned away from you, Lord.
As a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so were we in your presence, O Lord. We conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
Isaiah 26:17-18
May we continue to learn from you,
Jesus our Lord and Teacher,
how to be a light leading others
to you by seeing you in us
through our love and sacrifices
the world sees as burdens
but in fact very light when done
in your most holy Name.
Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-13 ng Hulyo 2022
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2016.
Itong ulan
ay kay buting paalala
sa atin ng kalikasan
na kailanma'y hindi tayo nalilimutan
ng Panginoong Maykapal
sa ating mga pangangailangan;
dinidiligan nanunuyot na kapaligiran
maging ating katauhan, minsa'y
nagwiwilig lamang upang maibsan
ang alinsangan at kung tag-ulan,
bumubuhos upang lubluban
labis nating karumihan!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 2020.
Itong ulan
maraming kahulugan
kadalasa'y pagpapala at
biyaya, tubig mula sa kalangitan
bagaman kung minsan
ay parang sumpa o parusa
tila mga patak ng luha
tayo ay binabaha ng hirap
at hilahil, nalulunod sa pighati
at kalungkutan na tila walang katapusan.
Itong ulan
mayroong taglay na katangian
wala sa ibang kalikasan
ang mangusap at magparamdam
dampian buong katawan tulad
ng isa pang kapwa nilalang
upang maranasan kalinisan at
kadalisayan nitong buhay
luntiang mga dahon, damdaming naaantig
ng magkasabay na lamig at halumigmig!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 13 July 2022
Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:25-37
Photo by Mr. Red Santiago, January 2020.
Your words today, O God our Father
remind us of your oft-repeated
wisdom and reality that the path
to real power and greatness is in
being small and powerless like children.
How foolish are we, Lord,
since the beginning when our
common knowledge always taught
us that size does matter, that the
bigger a nation and its army like
Assyria, the more powerful it is:
partly true for a moment because
you are always greater than anyone,
O God with every nation, every individual
surely in your mighty hands!
Will the axe boast against him who hews with it? Will the saw exalt itself above him who wields it? As if a rod could sway him who lifts its, or a staff him who is not wood! Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send among his fat ones leanness, and instead of his glory there will be kindling like the kindling of fire.
Isaiah 10:15-16
Your Son Jesus Christ himself
had revealed that in knowing
and discovering you, O God and your ways
it is not about being a genius nor of
knowing all but in being simple, being
open and knowing less because everything
is God's work, not ours even if everything
seems to be clear and fixed with us and in
our points of view.
At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”
Matthew 11:25
Lord Jesus,
keep me simple,
let me rely only in you
for you have all the answers
in the world.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, 12 July 2022
Isaiah 7:1-9 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 11:20-24
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, October 2019.
When word came to the house of David that Aram encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as trees of the forest tremble in the wind.
Isaiah 7:2
God our Father,
so many times in life
our hearts tremble like
trees trembled in the wind,
almost falling because of
so many fears in life: fear of
going hungry, fear of going poor,
fear of losing wealth, power and status;
fear of being conquered and
subdued by others stronger than us
BUT we never fear of losing you!
Forgive us, O Lord, for being like
the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida
who refused to believe in Jesus Christ
your Son despite the many marvelous
things he had made in their towns;
despite your goodness and blessings,
we refuse to give ourselves to you; but,
when things go off hand, when trials come,
we call on you, demanding you to rush
to our side and be quick to save us;
let us be "tranquil and do not fear" against
our enemies and every trial that come our
way by doing our part of having faith
in you, of daring to go against the tide
to allow you do your work because after all,
if ever things get worst, so often not because
you were helpless but because we kept you
out of our lives, we chose to break away
from you, choosing our own destruction.
Uphold us your people, O God!
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot, 11 July 2022
Isaiah 1:10-17 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 10:34-11:1
Photo by author, Church of St. Agnes, Jerusalem, Israel, May 2018.
Your words today, O God
are not only disturbing but
also puzzling; it is disturbing
for us who continue with all of
our fake religiosities that are more
of a show than an intimacy with you.
Your words through Isaiah
should awaken us to be more truthful,
to show more our love for you in our
actions that are just and fair to others.
“Trample my courts no more. Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load… learn to do good. Make justice your aim, redress the wronged; hear the orphan’s plea; defend the widow.”
Isaiah 1:13, 14, 17
Your words are also puzzling,
as spoken by Jesus Christ your Son
who declared:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.”
Matthew 10:34
Puzzling and disturbing are
your words, Lord, and we thank
you for disturbing us, for puzzling us:
may we have the courage to confront
our true selves, strip ourselves naked
of our pretensions of being good and
faithful so we may be true to your call
to be holy and just, loving and merciful;
so many times, even in our religion and
faith, it is not you whom we put first but
our very selves.
Through the prayers and examples of
St. Benedict, may we put Christ before
everything by thinking more of others
than of ourselves; may we always begin
our works by appealing to Jesus our Lord
to bring these to perfection and lead us to
everlasting life. Amen.
St. Benedict,
Pray for us!
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 10 July 2022
Deuteronomy 30:10-14 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:15-20 ><}}}*> Luke 10:25-37
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA7-News, May 2022.
After telling us last week to “do not rejoice because spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Lk.10:20), Jesus today answers a scholar of the law asking him what he must do to gain eternal life.
It is the very same question we often ask others because inside us we are convinced there is something else deeper than the laws and commandments of God written in the Bible. Like the scholar of the law, we have experienced that God’s commandments and statutes – his very voice, his very words – are written in our hearts.
Moses said to the people: “If only you would heed the voice of the Lord, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, when you return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul. No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.”
Deuteronomy 30:10, 14
God’s commandments and laws are not just mere codes of conduct like in other religions. The Law of God is no dead letter but his living Word right in the depths of our hearts no matter how hard we deny his existence. More than a code, the Law of God evokes a relationship that is a fruit of one’s conversion of heart and soul in union with God and with others.
It is here that we find the novel approach by Jesus in narrating the parable of the good Samaritan in answering the scholar of the law who wanted to test him by asking, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk.10:25) that was followed up with a second one, “And who is my neighbor?” (Lk.10:29) to justify himself. In narrating this parable, Jesus showed us how we must live as neighbors, as brothers and sisters in him who is our head.
Photo from americamagazine.org.
We are all neighbors.
We have heard so many times this beautiful parable by Jesus which only Luke had narrated while the Lord was “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk.9:51). Too often, we see this parable as a reminder of something we are all aware of, that everyone is our neighbor.
Like the scholar of the law, we are not surprised at all with Christ’s question, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” because we have always thought of the question in our own point of view! We are the ones looking at the victim of the robbers that it is always easy to assume we would be good Samaritan to him which is so presumptuous on our part. Fact is, so often we have failed being a good Samaritan to so many in need who came to us for help because we were like the priest and Levite with many excuses, with more important matters to attend to that they both passed by the robbers’ victim.
Like the scholar of the law, we have failed to see the whole point of Jesus who was asking us to be in the victim’s point of view, to be in his shoes: would anyone be a good Samaritan to help me if I were the victim?
Jesus had reversed the point of view – instead of looking through the window from the outside, we are asked to look at the window from the inside! Would somebody stop to be kind with us?
From inquirer.net.
Many times we have felt so disappointed at some people we were expecting to be our friends, who would be on our side but when trials came, they turned their backs from us and left us alone when suddenly, somebody we least expected or even hardly knew came to help us!
How many times have you found yourself saying, “I thought they considered me as their friend but it turned out, somebody I hardly knew was the one who helped me out of my plight!” Worst, there were times we have said strangers are even better than our family and friends, saying, “Mabuti pa yung ibang tao kesa kamag-anak o kaibigan”.
Hence, to our most Frequently Asked Question (FAQ), “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, Jesus is asking us to act and live in such a way that everybody sees us as their neighbor, not the other way around. When it is others who see us as their neighbor, it means we are living the gospel, we are like Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan who came to save us all. It is different when it is us who claim to see everyone as our neighbor – it holds nothing at all but an idea in the mind, a plan or mere intention no matter how noble it may be.
Most of all, to see others as one’s neighbors is a sign of a malady of our faith and religion: that we are not yet evangelized though sacramentalized wherein Jesus is just in our minds but not yet in our hearts, not yet flowing through our very being.
Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images, Laoag City, 08 May 2022.
The preeminence of Jesus Christ
This oneness in Christ is the gist of Paul’s beautiful exposition about Jesus in our second reading this Sunday. Paul wrote the Colossians while in prison to prevent them from joining some preachers encouraging them to adopt ascetic practices in order to have angelic powers as well as appease higher powers. Paul insisted Jesus Christ is God and what he had accomplished on the cross is sufficient for our salvation.
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or principalities or powers; all things were created through and for him. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Colossians 1:15-16, 19
In presenting the preeminence of Jesus Christ, Paul is also telling us that Jesus is the foundation of our moral life. Our lives, our actions must flow from our communion and oneness in Christ. That is when others see us as a neighbor, when they see us as one of them too!
This is the fulfillment of Moses’ teaching in the first reading, that the “voice of the Lord”, the word of God is not far from you for it is in your hearts – that is Jesus Christ who is not only the fulfillment of the laws but the Law himself. After all, as John had expressed in the fourth gospel, Jesus is “the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us”, the Emmanuel, the God-with-us.
From Facebook of Marivic Tribiana, 2021.
Today, Jesus is inviting us that in order to gain eternal life, we must do what he does, that is, to love and be kind with everyone, to be seen as a neighbor and a friend others can count on. In becoming human, God became one of us in Jesus Christ, the one who crossed the street to reach out to us victims of robbers on the way to Jerusalem. He not only healed our wounds but even lifted us to regain our dignity as beloved brothers and sisters. And neighbors.
There is a very beautiful word in English that captures this reality of our being neighbors or brothers and sisters in Christ: “kind” or “kindness” which came from the root kin or kindred. When we say “she or he is kind to me”, it means he or she treats me as a kin or a kindred, not as different like a stranger.
Artwork by Fr. Marc Ocariza based on Marivic Tribiana’s photo, 2021.
We are all kins or kindred in Christ. And every time we choose to be unkind and indifferent with others especially those in need, we are bothered by our conscience because it is an affront to our very personhood. It is unnatural like what the American writer George Saunders had realized:
“So here’s something I know to be true, although it’s a little corny, and I don’t quite know what to do with it: What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering and I responded … sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.”
George Saunders from “Congratulations, By the Way” (page 22)
Avoid having such regrets later in life. Whatever good deed you may do at the moment, do it for it could be Jesus Christ who is passing by, who is the one in need. Amen.
Homily by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Baccalaureate Mass of Senior High School,
Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 08 July 2022
Photo by author at Mt. Nebo, Jordan overlooking the Holy Land, May 2019. Modern sculpture of the bronze serpent God told Moses to erect in the desert so that those bitten by snakes would be healed when they looked up to it, a prefiguration of Christ himself.
Congratulations, our dear graduates of Senior High School. You are so blessed today because our gospel is like a valedictory address given to you by no less than our Lord Jesus Christ whose message is so simple, yet so rich and so timely during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”
Matthew 10:16
You are the modern apostles of Jesus Christ.
You are so special, Senior High Batch 2022. The past two years are the most difficult in modern history, and probably doubly difficult for young people like you who were supposed to be outside learning and discovering more about life beyond the classrooms but COVID-19 kept you grounded.
But, here you are! Nakatapos din! – despite the poor internet services, the boring online classes, and limited personal interaction with others, you are graduating, soon fulfilling your dreams to become doctors, engineers, nurses, teachers.
Truly as Jesus Christ had said in the gospel today, you are being sent like sheep among wolves, a very wild world indeed where evil and darkness seem to prevail especially when you listen to all the news of missing ladies or even adults.
Photo by author, view of the desert to the Holy Land as seen from Jordan, May 2019.
I refuse to use that expression when somebody graduates, “welcome to the real world”. Was there any moment in your lives that was not real like, kunwa-kunwarian lang? What you went through in senior high was real, what you have experienced were all true. Lahat ay totohanang buhay especially those two years of isolation and lockdowns which may continue for the next three or five years according to experts.
Life will be more difficult in college but most challenging for growth and maturity.
Yes, there are so many dangers from within and from the outside but trust in God for in him alone can we find life and fulfillment as the prophet Hosea reminds us in the first reading today.
Thus says the Lord: “Let him who is wise understand these things, let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble.”
Hosea 14:10
What Hosea is telling us is to be wise, to be filled with wisdom which begins in having that holy fear of the Lord. Handle life with prayer. As I would always tell you, “study hard, work harder, pray hardest”. In God alone can we find meaning and fulfillment in life.
Photo by author, St. Catherine’s Monastery near Mt. Sinai, Egypt, May 2019.
Maybe you are wondering why Jesus is asking us to be shrewd like the serpents. As you must have learned in world literature and world history, the ancient peoples like the Egyptians have always considered snakes as symbols of wisdom. But what I wish to focus more is the revision of the older translation of this passage from “be wise as the serpents” to “be shrewd as the serpents”.
Being shrewd is often mistaken into a negative trait because it suggests a practical wisdom that does not necessarily look deeply into things at all but wily and conscious of its personal interests.
That’s according to the late Dr. S. I. Hayakawa of the the veritable Reader’s Digest guide to synonyms, “Use the Right Word”. However, Dr. Hayakawa explained that the word “shrewd” is often used to indicate an unusual mental agility or perceptiveness of taking advantage of hidden opportunities. It speaks of a more penetrating kind of wisdom that is why the new versions of bible of “be shrewd as the serpents” is more precise and exact.
In that sense, too, you are all shrewd as the serpents during your senior high school because you were able to perceive hidden opportunities during the pandemic that you strived in your studies. Believe me, you are well-equipped for life because of the online classes during the pandemic, teaching you, showing you so many opportunities our generation had never seen.
Here is the more interesting part of being shrewd like the serpents….
From reddit.com.
The snake is the only one in the animal kingdom that regularly sheds off its skin, a sign of renewal. In Filipino, we call that “paghuhunos ng balat”. During Lent, we hear the elders telling us “maghunos dili” – literally to shed some of one’s self or pride and ego. In short, be converted.
The snake is shrewd because it sheds its skin so often, renewing itself, adjusting and adapting to new situations.
And that is true wisdom – adjusting and adapting to new situations. Most of all, spiritually speaking, it is a daily conversion in God.
Conversion is not changing our personality, like a very courageous person becoming timid or a talkative person becoming silent. Conversion means having new directions in our selves. Perfect example is St. Paul who used to persecute Christians but upon conversion, became the missionary of the gospel of Christ. He was practically the same person still – zealous and full of enthusiasm but no longer in persecuting Christians but promoting Christ.
Conversion is being like the snake in shedding its skin, letting go of the old ways and self to be renewed – still a snake but a better snake after each shedding of skin. That’s being shrewd like the serpents: of the many lessons taught to us by this COVID-19 pandemic, one of the leading lessons is the need for us to adapt and adjust when things are not going good.
And you are the experts in this because during those two years of online classes – for better and for worst – you must have perfected the art of adjustments, of adaptation. Nobody ever expected or even predicted the things that happened in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is so unique, even surreal. We were so used to our comfort zones, so used to what has always been long before but COVID forced us to abandon that frame of mind and be like serpents, to adjust to situations by shedding off our skins, our pride to be more attuned with the environment to eventually emerge victorious. And we are all better now, especially you who are graduating soon!
Of course, you do not have to adjust and adapt to everything. You have to weigh things carefully. That is why Jesus balanced his instruction to be shrewd as the serpents with being simple as doves. We do not change and renew ourselves for the sake of adapting to new situations; we renew and adapt to become better persons, to become holier.
Remember, you are like the sheep – symbol of humility and holiness – being sent among wolves.
Be shrewd as the serpents and simple as doves. God bless you more in your college studies, Batch 2022!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, 08 July 2022
Hosea 14:2-10 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Matthew 10:16-23
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD in France, March 2022.
Another week is closing,
another brand new week coming
but here I am, O God, still undecided,
dilly-dallying when to follow you,
when to change my ways,
when will I ever be true
in walking my talk; this time,
may I take with me my words
of contrition, of decision to turn
away from sin and follow your path
in Jesus Christ your Son.
Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord, say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.”
Hosea 14:2-3
Grant me, O Lord,
the courage to be wise as the serpent
and gentle as the dove in this world
so filled with wolves and other
predators out for a kill with
their seductive temptations
to rule and dominate; may I always
have the presence of mind to think
what is fair and just, true and good
that I may not be tempted to take
shortcuts in life; inspire me to innovate
and be creative in proclaiming
and living out the gospel of Jesus
in this highly modern and complex
world; most of all, keep me faithful
to you, to always walk your path
for you are the way, the truth and
the life.
Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.
Hosea 14:10
There is no other way
to life, Lord, except you
and this is the reason why
so many want to remove you,
to delete you from life, from
the world so that they can do
what is most pleasing to themselves
without realizing nor admitting
the collapse and slow death
they are experiencing.
Amen.
lordmychef.com 