Photo by author, Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, the Grotto, Baguio City, 2019.
God our loving Father, I have been praying to you for so long, in fact almost in my entire life. But as I prayed over your words for today, it just dawned upon me that every “existential question”: when do I really call on you?
The attitude of your King in Jerusalem struck me while praying, wondering if I have the same attitude of having you first of all when things are not going good in my life.
Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then he went up to the temple of the Lord, and spreading it out before him, he prayed in the Lord’s presence: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth… Therefore, O Lord, our God, save us from the power of this man, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”
2 Kings 19:14-15, 19
What a deep faith and intimate relationship with you, Lord, by Hezekiah! He went straight up to you, even presenting to you the letter of the Assyrian king threatening to conquer Jerusalem at that time. He did not mind at all the warnings about the strength and power of the Assyrians because he only had you, Lord, in his mind and in his heart.
So often, Lord, I only come to you after I have exhausted my mind thinking about my problems and situations in life; I come to you when I can no longer find solutions; worst, I come to you after I have tried everything and had failed.
Forgive me, Father, when I only think of you as a last resort — instead of being my first always!
Maybe, that is because before ever coming to you, calling on you, Lord, I try doing things first on my own that is always be easy and quick. I have no patience of waiting and of going through sufferings and inconvenience especially through paths and doors.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gae is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. All those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14
Dearest Jesus Christ, you have come among us to bring us closest to the Father and yet we continue to remain far from him. Give us the grace today to be more intimate with God our Father so we may truly be centered on him in life, having him as our personal “default” in every situation, whether good or bad. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, Martyrs, 22 June 2020
2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 7:1-5
Photo by Dr. Mai Dela Peña, Tokyo, 2018.
Today we praise and thank you O God for two great saints of modern time who remind us that holiness is for everyone in all seasons because you are always relevant in every age, in every nation.
St. Thomas More and St. John Cardinal Fisher, two great men who taught us more than 500 years ago the need for us to be faithful to you and your Church than with the modern world and its modern thoughts, of the need for us to fight and oppose all forms of tyranny of men especially of those in power that always have impact on everyone especially those with less in life who take the brunt of such sinful excesses.
Both men were martyred because of their refusal to go with England’s King Henry VIII’s divorce from his first wife and eventual break from Rome and the Pope.
Both men, especially St. Thomas More who was a diplomat-lawyer and a family man, showed us that though we are in this world, we are not of the world; though we are citizens of the city of man, we are first of all citizens of the city of God.
How sad that we have refused to learn the value of their lessons of obeying you, our loving Father in heaven above all.
In fact, it was also the problem with Israel in the first reading when its capital city of Samaria fell into the hands of the Assyrians due to the people’s infidelities to God.
May we realize that every time we turn away from you O Lord, we turn away also from one another and go on our selfish own ways in life that further divide us apart and bring us into destruction and ruins.
Through St. Thomas More and St. John Cardinal Fisher, help us O Lord to examine our very selves, to see our own wickedness and shortcomings so we may effectively fight tyranny and deceit in this modern time. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 21 June 2020
A blessed happy Father’s Day to all the great dads of the world, especially those who have gone ahead of us and still watching us, guiding us, inspiring us.
Like David Gates who composed our Sunday Music today “Make It With You” in 1970, how I wish I could “make it to the other side climbing rainbows” to be with my dad even for a while to share him my joys and accomplishments, thanking him for all the love he had showered me with.
Hey have you ever tried
Really reaching out for the other side?
I may be climbing on rainbows
But, baby here goes
According to an interview I have read last year which I can no longer remember where, Gates had admitted that he wrote this song primarily for his late father, of how he wished his dad were still around to see him successful as a composer and a musician.
It was only during its recording when they fine-tuned his composition to make it a love song that eventually became the theme song of so many couples and lovers during the 70’s up to this time that the popular group Ben&Ben made a cover early this year for a movie or a series.
See how the song is not just a flight of fantasy or a dream but something so real within, something those of us who are so close with our dads that even if they are now in eternal rest, we can still feel their presence among us.
Dreams they're for those who sleep
Life is for us to keep
And if you're wond'ring
What this song is leading to
I want to make it with you
I really think that we can make it, girl
In our Sunday Gospel today, we find Jesus telling us not to be afraid in fulfilling our missions in life for he is always with us, ensuring that “we make it through” with him and in him.
That is what makes a dad so special: he is full of courage, facing every fear in life to ensure his family can make it through in this life.
And just maybe, dads are always the first to go to heaven because even in eternal life, they still see to it “we make it through” here on earth and to eternity, but not so soon.
Life can be short or long
Love can be right or wrong
And if I choose the one
I'd like to help me through
I'd like to make it with you
I really think that we can make it, girl
Cheers to all the dads who face all fears, both here and hereafter! Amen.
*Photos of my dad Wilfredo Sr. who died June 17, 2000, the 61st birthday of my mom. He is most happy with my mom with whom he is so faithful.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 21 June 2020
Jeremiah 20:10-13 ><)))*> Romans 5:12-15 ><)))*> Matthew 10:26-33
Photo by author at Pulilan, Bulacan, January 2020.
Finally, today we can truly feel the Ordinary Time as we celebrate Sunday in shades of green with a new sequence of readings from the gospel of St. Matthew who will guide us in our journey with Jesus this year until the Solemnity of Christ the King in November.
Set after the naming of the Twelve Apostles who were sent to search for the “lost sheep of Israel”, the Lord now warns them of persecutions and dangers; hence, today until the next two Sundays, Christ will encourage his disciples including us to take on the challenges of his mission, assuring us of his loving presence and protection.
Notice how the Lord tells us three times to be not afraid of the mission:
Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one… And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna… So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:26, 28, 31
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.
The problem with our fears
Christ’s words today suit us so perfectly in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic made worst by the growing social unrests not only in our country but also elsewhere in the world that proves how the Lord’s mission remains unfulfilled in us.
Almost everywhere we hear reports of continued oppression of peoples in various forms of discrimination, disrespect and injustices.
But we do not need to look far to do our mission. We start with ourselves first — for we are the “lost sheep of Israel” in so many ways. All oppression and injustices going on around us are the reflections of what is within us that often result from our fears.
So often, the many fears within us push us to be selfish, forgetting others in the process. And that is when we start hating each other, creating this vicious circle of sufferings as the Jedi Master Yoda warned Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace.”
From Google.
We all have fears. It is normal to feel afraid especially when threatened by a grave danger or threat to life.
Being brave, having courage does not mean having no fears; on the contrary, courage is facing one’s fears in life. Cowardice, on the other hand, is refusal to face our fears.
Jesus is asking us today to face our fears with him and in him so we can be free to follow him in his mission.
Facing our fears in Jesus Christ
What are our fears that lead us to anger and hate, that immobilize us to reach out to God and others? Let us examine them in the light of Christ’s reassuring words this Sunday.
“Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
Matthew 10:26-27
Photo by author, 2019.
Fear of not being loved and appreciated
One of the things I fear most is not being loved and appreciated, of being neglected and taken for granted.
It is a fear akin with low self-esteem or self-worth that make me afraid of others I deem as better and superior than me.
There are many contributing factors to this fear, mostly not of our own making like growing up in a very strict environment where we are not able to measure up to the expectations of those around us. Sometimes it is due to traumatic experiences that have truly hurt us inside and outside.
As I grew up meeting so many people from various walks of life, including those I looked up and admire including some personalities, I have realized that indeed nobody is perfect. No one has the monopoly of every good thing — looks and intelligence, wealth and health. We all need one another, and we are also needed. And loved as well as appreciated too!
We are all broken and lost, wounded and hurt; no need to fear anyone. What is most important is to always remember God loves us very much — no matter what.
At night before we sleep, do not just count your sins and failures; think also of the good things you have done, people you have helped and made happy. Listen to God thanking you for being so nice with someone. That is what Jesus is telling us to “speak in light” what he said to you in darkness!
Every morning when you wake up, be silent and still, pray and little, listen to God whispering to you the words “I love you… I believe in you” to inspire your for the brand new day. These are the words Jesus is asking you to “proclaim on the housetops”.
Forget those pains inflicted on us by others, in words or in deeds — they must be hurting too, feeling more unloved and unappreciated than us, more fearful than us!
Afraid of getting hurt, physically and emotionally
Another fear I always have is being hurt because I might not be able to take or absorb the pains. Worst, adjust to changes and disturbances that may result.
I was a very sickly child when growing up that I dreaded injections and other medical procedures. Aside from getting hurt, I feared that things could never be the same again, altering or disturbing what I have been used to.
But, as I aged fighting many battles in life, enduring so many pains and hurts with some help from family and friends, I have learned that pain is part of growing up. In fact, growing up becomes nicer with more pains and hurts that make us stronger and wiser with the many lessons we can learn. Most of all, pains and hurts have opened up many doorways to new beginnings that made me grow and mature as a person and as a priest.
Indeed, as the Lord had told us, do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul. It is what is inside that makes us who we really are. Replace those fears with Jesus and dare to get hurt and bruised that may destroy you outside but stronger inside.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Fear of getting lost, of being alone.
This fear has recurred in me lately during this quarantine period when I am all by myself in my parish with no one to talk to or share whatever may be inside me.
Sometimes it is so tempting to just vanish and die than be lost and alone!
Recently I celebrated a funeral Mass for a young man who committed suicide: he came from the Visayas last February to try his luck here in our barrio to work as a helper in a small candy shop. With the imposition of lockdown in mid-March, he lost his job and had to stay with his cousins who were also laid off from work. The teenager grew homesick, getting depressed later that no amount of alcohol of their nightly drinking sessions could give him a sense of mission that he decided to hang himself on a tree while his drinking companions were all drunk.
Sad that nobody had reminded him of his mission in life that he decided to just end it all. He had forgotten not only his dreams and mission but also his parents and six other siblings in the province looking up to him.
Even if we are in our worst situations in life, for as long as we are alive, still breathing, may we never lose that sense of mission from God because that means we are important, that God believes in us in entrusting us with a mission. Truly, we are worth more than a thousand sparrows that God takes care of.
From QuoteMaster.com
Experiencing God in the midst of trials
Life is like a rollercoaster: it is something we all fear but we still keep on riding because it is so fulfilling, very liberating, so exciting. It knocks out all the fears in us, making us so aware of life, of being alive.
That was the experience of the Prophet Jeremiah in the first reading: he would always complain to God of his own inadequacies, especially his many fears for the mission and yet, he could not let go of God’s call because he is so in love with him! He could not resist God like a rollercoaster.
I really hoped the lectionary had included the first three verses to the start of our first reading today:
You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage is my message; The word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day. I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.
Jeremiah 20:7-9
Jeremiah was a timid man who was also hypersensitive; yet, God called him to an impossible mission. And despite a long process of purifications marked by arrests, imprisonment and public humiliations, Jeremiah remained faithful to his mission to God that later cost his life. Eventually, the more he became great after his death that he is regarded a major prophet in all three major religions of the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
That is the joy of staying in love with God who is like a rollercoaster: he “seduces” us to come to him and then “scares” us, sometimes “hurts” only in the end to surprise us with greater things beyond our imaginations.
We come to experience God most and closest in darkness and trials where he is so real as another person to us. The key is to let go of our fears in Jesus Christ who was no stranger too to fearful situations.
It is nice to know that the greatest and holiest men and women of God were all like us — people so fearful yet brave enough to face their fears in Christ who never fails to provide us with the courage and strength needed in fulfilling our mission.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-19 ng Hunyo 2020
Napakahirap isipin
masakit tanggapin
sinapit maraming
kababayan natin
na hanggang ngayon
hindi pa rin nakakauwi
upang sariling pamilya'y
makapiling.
Pinakamasakit nilang
dinanas na sila'y ituring
kaiba sa atin; matagal na
hindi pinansin
walang nakabatid
sa kanilang mga hinaing
hanggang sa bumantad na lamang
sila sa ating paningin sa TV screen.
Matay ko mang isipin
sa panahon ito ng COVID-19
marami pa rin sa atin
hindi lang sumpungin
pag-uugali'y karimarimarim
salita'y matatalim
nakakasakit ng damdamin
wala na bang buting angkin?
Sa panahong ito ng pandemya
na ang banta ng kamatayan ay tunay na tunay
kabiyak o kapatid, kaibigan o kasamahan
o sino pa man ay tila nalilimutang
kapwa ring nahihirapan, nabibigatan
sa halip na tulungan, iniiwanan;
sa halip na kalooban ay pagaanin
ito'y sinasaktan pati na rin katawan.
Kapistahan ng Kamahal-Mahalang Puso ni Hesus; larawan kuha ni G. Gelo Nicolas Carpio, 19 Hunyo 2020.
Kaya aking dalangin
sana'y tupdin ng Panginoong Hesus
ating hiling gawin ang mga puso natin
katulad ng kanyang Puso,
maamo at mahabagin
puno ng kanyang pag-ibig
bawat tibok ay tigib
ng kabutihan Niyang angkin.
Mabuti pa ang puno ng saging
madalas na biro natin: may puso kesa atin!
Sana'y alisin Mo, Hesus, pusong bato namin
palitan ng pusong laman sa Iyo nakalaan
huwag naming panghinayangang kabutihan Mo'y ipamigay
huwag rin kaming maghintay ng Iyong sukling ibibigay
bagkus ay magmahal nang magmahal
hanggang kami'y mamatay at sa Iyong piling mahimlay.
*Mga larawan sa “collage” sa itaas ay mula kay G. Raffy Tima ng GMA News; ang nasa gitna na larawang ng imaheng bato ni Hesus ay mula Google.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19 June 2020
Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ><)))*> 1 John 4:7-16 <*(((>< Matthew 11:25-30
Photo from Google.
O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, make my heart like yours — make me small and little in standing, hidden and unknown among many, simple and humble in a world now measured in influence, popularity, and following.
On this Solemnity of your Most Sacred Heart, I thank you dear Jesus in choosing to be small and little, always hidden in the simplest things of life like soft voices of kindness and mercy, reason and wisdom, gratitude and love.
You have shown us that to be truly loving like you, we have to be small and little like children.
Most of all, free to be ourselves as beloved children of the Father!
Free from inhibitions and guilt to truly express the love and joy within.
Help us, Jesus, to cast all our worries to you, to take your yoke that is easy, burden that is light.
It is so difficult to love when we are burdened by many concerns and considerations, when we cannot be our true selves that we lack spontaneity, of being natural and easy.
In the same manner, it becomes hard for us too to love or even please someone who sees him or her self bigger than reality, when they see themselves as “big shots” and “heavyweights” who have to be pleased and “followed” or affirmed.
May we always keep in mind the words of Moses so applicable also to us today:
“It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations.”
Deuteronomy 7:7
O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, you have given us your heart that bleeds due to the thorns of our sins, yet aglow with the fire of your immense love and mercy.
May we come to you, today and always to find rest, to learn from your gentle and humble ways so needed in our heartless world. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-18 ng Hunyo 2020
Nasubukan mo na bang
manahimik
upang makinig
at makipag-niig
sa Diyos
na tanging ibig
ating kaganapan
at kagalakan?
Minsan kung kailan
hindi mo inaasahan
saka Siya mararanasan:
nangungusap, nagpaparamdam
lalo na kapag binabalikan
mga nakaraan ika'y
nasaktan at nasugatan,
o nasiyahan at maraming natutunan.
At habang iyong ninanamnam
Kanyang kabutihan
kailanman hindi ka iniwan
pinabayaan o tinalikuran
saka daratal buong kalaliman
ang hindi maikakaila
mayroon ngang Diyos
sa atin nagmamahal!
At iyan ang higit
nating mapapanaligang
katotohanan
higit nakakikilabot
kesa multo o ano pang kuwento;
dahil ang Diyos ay totoong-totoo
ngunit ang multo
doon lang sa guni-guni mo!
*Mga larawan kuha ng may-akda maliban sa takip-silim at bongavilla sa aming simbahan na parehong kuha ni G. Gelo Nicolas Carpio.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week XI, Year II in Ordinary Time, 18 June 2020
Sirach 48:1-14 ><)))*> ><)))*> ++0++ <*(((>< <*(((>< Matthew 6:7-15
Photo by author, Malolos Cathedral, 2019.
Your sage Ben Sirach today reminds us, O God, about the greatness of your two prophets, Elijah and Elisha who both worked wondrous deeds in your name before the mighty and powerful of their time.
They were so powerful in words and in deeds, both in life and in death.
In fact, Elijah never tasted death as you took him up to heaven on a fiery chariot while you granted Elisha’s wish to have twice the powers of his mentor.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You brought a dead man back to life from the nether world, by the will of the Lord. You sent kings down to destruction, and nobles, from their beds of sickness. You were taken aloft in a whirlwind, in a chariot with fiery horses. O Elijah, enveloped in the whirlwind! Then Elisha filled with a twofold portion of his spirit, wrought many marvels by his mere word. during his lifetime he feared no one, nor was any man able to intimidate his will. Nothing was beyond his power; beneath him flesh was brought back to into life. In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds.
Sirach 48:4-6, 9, 12-14
Are there really people you have gifted with special powers and favors, Lord?
But, the more I prayed over Elijah and Elisha along with your other prophets and saints who have followed up to our own time, I have found one distinctive characteristic they all have: their attitudes of submission and of gratitude to you as Lord and Master.
You are the one who calls us, Lord, and always you are aware of our weaknesses and limitations, even our sins. Yet, what impresses you most is our attitude of submission and gratitude: the first is self-emptying to allow you to work in us, Lord, and the second is to always recognize you, never to claim anything on our own.
No wonder, the only prayer taught to us by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord is the “Our Father” which encapsulates those attitudes of submission and gratitude.
If only we could be more willing and more thankful to you, God our Father, maybe we could have changed the world with just the Lord’s Prayer. Amen.
The Church of te Our Father outside Jerusalem believed to be the site where Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. Photo by author, 2017.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 June 2020
Today is my mother’s 81st birthday and my father’s 20th year of death.
Since June 17, 2000, we have “stopped” celebrating my mother’s birthday as she ordered that date to be remembered more as my father’s birth into heaven.
So many things have happened in our lives as a family, most especially with me as a man and a priest being the eldest.
Yes, I always dread this date, feeling at a loss until now at how to behave or what to say when I come home. There is always a “drama” we have to go through when we get together, with a lot of “dead air” moments during Mass and later at the dinner table.
Though somehow they have lessened in these past 20 years, the sadness is still there.
I thought time heals.
True.
But the pain remains. And the more it gets painful.
Lalong bumabaon, as we say.
With her apos when still able to move freely; Sunday after Mass was always at my father’s gravesite.
Since her 61st birthday, Mamu as she preferred to be called when the apos came, she had “stopped” living because my dad was really her life. We believe her sorrow contributed to her stroke in December 2004.
Growing up until I have become a priest, I have always seen my father preparing coffee and breakfast daily for her. She had in fact forgotten how to cook or learn new dishes because my father was a superb cook — that is why we all have gout in the family.
Most of all, as I would always tell my students before, since childhood until I have become a priest, dad never ate his meals without Mamu at his side or at least to personally tell him to eat because she had gone to a party or some prayer meeting.
Every Sunday after my Masses in a nearby town, I would visit my father’s grave and surely find fresh flowers and candles earlier placed by my mom and sister’s family.
After praying and blessing his gravesite, I would talk to him, telling him, “Dad, there are 365 days in a year. Why did you die on June 17, 2000?”
It took my father more than a year before answering my question.
Yes, he spoke to me in his usual deep, whispering voice I heard from within as I looked down on his grave, “Nick, I died on your mother’s birthday so you would love her more like I have loved her.”
Tears swelled in my eyes and eventually rolled down my cheeks that I almost watered the grass on his gravesite!
It was a very tall order that until now, I really do not know if I have fulfilled.
Mothers are like God
God cannot be everywhere that is why He created mothers.
Jewish saying
Every Thursday I come home to visit Mamu on my day off, as well as during special occasions and gatherings like birthdays of my siblings and pamangkins.
Sometimes I ask myself if I have loved my mom that much as my dad had wanted me to.
This comes strongest to me when going to a sick mother in my parish to anoint with Holy Oil or when presiding at a funeral Mass of a deceased mother; I would listen intently to the “thank you speech” of a son or a daughter and marvel at how great his/her love for the deceased parent.
As a priest, I have always been with so many mothers but not so much with my own mom. But one thing I have experienced since my father died on my mother’s birthday 20 years ago is the life that continues to flow from her very self and presence which flows unto me and spills even up to my parish and community.
My mom as a teenager.
She’s from the “old school” who had taught me a lot about sacrifices, of keeping things in order like telling me after lunch that while resting, I should mop the floor and dust off the jalousies of our windows downstairs. Resting meant doing something worthwhile like removing cobwebs at ceilings; so, you can just imagine what is housecleaning for her!
Another thing I have learned from her is harimunan wherein you try to save little amounts of money with things you may forego like instead of taking tricycle, I walked for three kilometers or instead of buying soda, drink from the water fountain at school.
The only lesson that I have refused to learn from her which I now admit I should have taken into heart is the art of bargaining or asking “tawad” in the “palengke” (market). It is a gift from God I think reserved for mothers.
One important lesson I have learned from Mamu came via a picture I have found in a copy of a Reader’s Digest. I was five years old then while scanning the new copy of my dad’s magazine, I saw the picture of a baby crying so hard after being delivered.
I asked her why the baby was crying and her explanation had stuck into my mind since then that later as a priest I realized it so existentially true! According to her, when a baby is born crying, that means she/he is alive; if the baby does not cry, that means she/he is dead.
So simple yet so deep.
When we cry, we are alive.
And sometimes, to be alive, we have to cry. A lot.
And I believe that is why mothers continue to give life to us despite the passing away of their husband because they are the ones who cry a lot.
Mothers cry in silence, alone because they are the ones who can truly feel the flowing of life, the slipping away of life.
In a few hours I will be coming home and I could already visualize and feel my mother’s crying on her birthday.
As much as possible I hold my tears, praying that in God’s time, we would just be the ones crying so that finally, Mamu would no longer be crying.
But, that’s another thing I dread so very much…I hope not yet that soon because I really do not know how life will be for me and my siblings.
Thank God for all the Mothers who have given and nurtured our lives even in old age.
Dome and side altar of the Malolos Cathedral photo by author, 2019.
Glory and praise to you, our mighty God and Father! Truly there is no other Lord and Master of all but you alone from whom all good things come, even greater things than we can ever expect!
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask for whatever I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” “You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied. “Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.”
2 Kings 2:9-10
How blessed was Elisha to dream big, asking for a double portion of the spirit you have granted his mentor Elijah!
Most often, we just have to trust you, we just have to believe in you as source of everything so we may be bold and daring enough to ask for greater things.
Help us believe in you, Lord.
Most of all, let us love you totally and unconditionally for you know everything what is deep in our hearts as Jesus your Son taught us in the gospel today. Amen.
Shore of Galilee at the back of ancient Capernaum where Jesus lived and preached. Photo by author, May 2019.
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