When minus is a plus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2023
Numbers 21:4-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 2:6-11 ><}}}}*> John 3:13-17

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses…
Numbers 21:4

Forgive us,
 God our Father,
for always complaining
even challenging you
when things get
difficult and rough
for us in life;
forgive us,
merciful Father
when our patience
is worn out
by life's journey
that we forget all
your good works,
not seeing the long
distances we have
covered,
the rivers we have crossed,
and mountains and hills
we have overcome
with you,
through you,
in you.

Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:6-8

Empty our hearts
of our pride,
Lord Jesus Christ
and fill us
with your humility,
justice,
and love;
make us realize
Jesus that it is in
being empty
and detached
when we are truly free
and hence, more faithful
and loving without
any encumbersome
or excess baggages
that bog us down
in moving on in life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
John 3:16

Let me love
like you,
dear God:
a love that seeks
relationships
and connections
not isolation
nor self-sufficiency;
let me love
like Jesus,
a love rooted in the Father,
a love that is more than a feeling
but a decision,
a choice made daily,
affirmed in actions of
fidelity and kindness,
obedience and trust;
let me love
like you, O God:
a love that gives life,
other-centered,
veritable/truthful,
and enduring.

Let me love my Cross,
Jesus,
to let me lose
everything in you
and for you
in order to gain
life and you.
Amen.

Fighting the ghosts within us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin & Martyr, 09 August 2023
Numbers 13:1-2, 25-14:1, 26-29, 34-35 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 15:21-28

*Photo by author, sunrise at Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.*

How timely are your words
these past three days, 
God our loving Father;
like your people in the wilderness
after their Exodus from Egypt,
we continue to grumble and
complain against you and your
plans for us through the people
you have sent to lead us
like our parents, siblings, 
even friends and superiors
in work or in community.

Worst than our stubbornness
in defying your instructions through
the modern Moses you send us,
we have even created our
own monsters and ghosts
within us,
exacerbating the fears
we have in trusting you,
believing you,
and following you!

So they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted, saying, “The land that we explored is a country that consumes its inhabitants. And all the people we saw there are huge, veritable giants (the Anakim were a race of giants); we felt like mere grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them.”
Numbers 13:32-33

Forgive us Father
for our outrageous foolishness
that have infected so many others,
paralyzing us to move
on in life,
to dare and dream
great things in life
that could proclaim
your majesty and mercy,
your life and love;
forgive us Father
for choosing mediocrity
than striving for the best
for us,
for others,
and for you;
forgive us Father
for not daring to venture
into the unknown
where Jesus Christ
goes, the Tyre and Sidon
of our lives that we fail
to meet him.

Grant us, O Lord,
the courage,
tenacity and faith
of the Canaanite woman
who begged Jesus
to exorcise her daughter;
most of all,
grant us the clarity
of mind and perseverance
of St. Teresa Benedicta
to seek and follow you,
and stand for you
even before the real monsters
of our time 
like the gas chambers of
indifference and
the prison camps
of power and pleasures
that all negate the Cross
of Jesus Christ..
Amen.

The dark side of our complaints

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest, 08 August 2023
Numbers 12:1-13 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 14:22-36

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 24 July 2023.*

Thank you very much,
God our loving Father,
for continuing to comfort
us, especially those maligned
by many with their complaints
and grumblings; but, 
at the same time, 
grant us the grace too
to be firm and strong that
the darkest side of 
complaints and grumblings
always come from people
closest and nearest to us
like Miriam and Aaron,
the siblings of Moses.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the marriage he had contracted with a Cushite woman. They complained, “Is it through Moses alone that the Lord speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” The Lord heard this. Now, Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. So at once the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the meeting tent.” Then the Lord came down in the column of cloud… so angry was the Lord against them that when he departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tent, there was Miriam, a snow-white leper!
Numbers 12:1-5, 9

O Lord,
we mean no harm 
to those closest to us 
who complain against us,
grumbling against us at our back;
let us be assured always that 
you know this very well
especially when we strive
to do your will and people
become jealous of us.

For our detractors,
the complainers and grumblers
especially when we are not around,
grant them the courage to be like
Simon Peter to open up with you,
Lord, to come close to you
even in the midst of a storm;
let them feel and experience
the turbulence within,
the pains and hurts
of doing your work.

Like St. Dominic,
let us be your torch-bearer
in bringing light not only
to the dark corners of the world
but to the darkness enveloping
us within like our jealousies
and insecurities, 
especially of those closest to us.
Amen.

St. Dominic de Guzman,
Pray for us!

For those burdened with complaints…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 07 August 2023
Numbers 11:4-15 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Matthew 14:13-21

God our loving Father,
today I feel so much your
servant Moses in the first
reading, of how your people
endlessly complained and whined
to him, even blamed him, for all
their hardships and difficulties
in the wilderness; of how 
people could be so inconsiderate
many times that after helping
them from their miseries
and freeing them from 
their bondage, they still have
the guts to speak harshly.

How ungrateful and frustrating
indeed, Lord!

“Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the Lord. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all these people? I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you will deal with me, then please do me the favor of killing me at once, so that I need no longer face this distress.”
Numbers 11:11, 14-15

Our Father in heaven,
this prayer is for those at
the receiving end with so much
complaints despite all their efforts
at serving them like Moses;
let them complain to you,
let them air their gripes,
let them pour out their anger
to you;
most of all, hear them and
comfort them;
bless them with courage and
assurance they are not alone,
that Jesus is with them
who simply took every pain
especially the news 
of John the Baptist's death; 
most of all, 
keep their hearts open to
the people suffering,
and yes, always complaining
because if ever we feel
like Moses, may we realize
too the great honor and
privilege of doing your work
here on earth.
Amen.

Never mess with God’s plan

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, Wk. XVIII, Yr. I, 07 August 2019

Numbers 13:1-2, 25-14:1, 26-29, 34-35 >< )))> Matthew 15:21-28*

Thank you very much, O Lord, for this brand new day, for this breath of new hope at the middle of the week as I pray for those who make life difficult for me, for those who mess your plans like those spies Moses sent to reconnoiter the Promised Land.

Instead of building up the people to meet the challenges of settling in the Promised Land, “they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted” (Num.13:32).

Forgive me Lord for doubting you, for thinking that you do not seem to care at all for me when I feel so alone with nobody on my side.

Increase my faith in you like that Canaanite woman who begged you to heal her daughter possessed by the devil. You did not say a word to her that prompted your disciples to intercede for her just to silence her, telling them you had come to search the lost sheep of Israel until….

He said to her in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”
Matthew 15:26-27

You praised that Canaanite woman, Lord, for her great faith; but, those children of Israel who trusted more the lies of those sent to scout the Promised Land were eventually punished, paying the very dear price of wandering for 40 years in the desert because they chose to mess your plans.

Vanish all anger and bitterness in me against these people who would surely soon “realize what it means to oppose you, O Lord” (Num.14:34) while I await your further plans and instructions. Amen.

From Mindful Christianity Today via Facebook.

God loves a cheerful giver

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Wednesday, Wk. XI, Yr. I, 19 June 2019

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 >< )))> >< )))> >< )))> Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18*

Our loving Father in heaven:

Lately I have been complaining a lot. And even if I keep it to myself, you know it very well because you see everything that is hidden.

I’m getting tired of helping and giving.

I’m getting tired of teaching and listening.

I’m getting tired of… living and doing everything.

I just want to stop and rest, Lord.

And the moment you give me that moment to stop and rest to start praying, I realize that whatever little or much do I have in this life is all yours. Nothing is really ours.

Even this very moment of stopping and resting in you. There is nothing we can claim to be totally ours to keep to ourselves. Not even a split second smile or a simple gesture of recognizing the other person.

Even that act of making the sign of the Cross is all yours and from you, Lord.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9: 8, 11

Thank you, O Lord, for everything.

Take everything that I have, even the littlest thing I keep to myself as mine because it is still yours.

You see whatever is hidden and for us to see that too, is a pure grace from you.

Let us give more, love more, and most of all, see you more. Amen.

Wildflowers in the desert of Petra in Jordan. Photo by author, 30 April 2019.

Beware: Complaining Is Always Attractive!

LordMyChef “T-G-I-F” Quote, 12 October 2018

“There were no easy consolations. It even seemed that he pierced their complaints with a truth they might have preferred not to know. After all, continual complaining is more attractive than facing reality. But the stranger was not the least bit afraid to break through their defenses and to call them far beyond their own narrowness of mind and heart.”

Henri Nouwen, “With Burning Hearts”, page 47.

DSCF0917

Photo by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, arched ceiling of the Our Father Church, Holy Land pilgrimage April 2017.