Tag: Divine Will

Action vs. Reaction

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest, 31 January 2022
2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13   ><)))*> + <*(((><   Mark 5:1-20
Photo by author, 2020.
God our loving Father,
give us the grace to ACT more
than to REACT to many people and
situations that come our way.
Give us the grace to accept the
truth no matter how painful it may be;
likewise, give us the grace 
to simply ignore falsehoods thrown
at us especially if it will not cost us 
anything serious at all.
Like King David in our first
reading today, make us realize
that our reactions, our hitting back
at others accusing us do not necessarily
protect our dignity but actually 
reveal our many insecurities;
many times, our reactions bare 
our sensitivities or touchiness that
we really deserve even more than
what is being said about us.

Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and make it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.” David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.

2 Samuel 16:11-13
Teach us to act decisively
in every situation, especially 
against evil like your Son,
Jesus Christ:  the moment he
came to the Gerasenes and met
the man possessed by demon, 
Mark tells us how "He had been 
saying to him, 'Unclean spirit,
come out of the man!'" (Mk.5:8);
when the people drove him out of
their town for sending the demons 
into a herd of swine, off he went
for he knew it was best; most of all,
when the exorcised man begged
to join him, he sent him home to his
family.
Like your great Saint, Don Bosco,
who early in life faced so many 
obstacles in life up to his priesthood,
he never reacted to adverse situations 
and people but kept his cool,
always cheerful in his disposition, 
acted only on your divine will, winning 
so many hearts and souls to Jesus 
in his work among the youth 
and the poor that continues to
this day.  Amen.

A prayer for 2022

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas, 30 December 2021
1 John 2:12-17  ><)))*> + <*(((><   Luke 2:36-40
Photo by author, 18 November 2021 at San Fernando, Pampanga.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Luke 2:39-40
God our loving Father, 
we are now about to complete 
another blessed year to meet 
another one more blessed;
thank you for the year 2021, 
for its bountiful grace and lessons
learned; for the gift of life, for the gift
of family and friends still with us.
Thank you also for all the pains and
hurts specially brought by COVID-19
to many of us; at least, we have 
realized our weaknesses and most of
all, the we love and needed to be loved.
And so, dear God, we pray like your
Son Jesus Christ after being presented
to the Temple, we may not only grow strong
physically and materially in 2022 
but most of all, that we may grow spiritually
to be filled with your wisdom so we may grow 
deeper in your favor; teach us to be like 
your prophetess Anna to cultivate a deep 
prayer life, seeking and patiently waiting 
for your voice and directions
to take in life this coming new year.
Let us heed St. John the Beloved's
warning that "the world and its enticement
are passing away.  But whoever does the
will of God remains forever" (1Jn.2:17).
Amen.

Missing Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Week XV, Year I in Ordinary Time, 13 July 2021
Exodus 2:1-15   ><)))*> + <*(((><   Matthew 11:20-24
Photo by author, St. Agnes Church at Bethsaida, Israel, 2017.
Jesus began to reproach the towns
where most of his mighty deeds 
had been done, since they had not
repented.  "Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you Bethsaida!  For if 
the mighty deeds done in your midst
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would long ago have repented 
sackcloth and ashes."
(Matthew 11:20-21)
I could hear you, Lord Jesus
crying again the same words
to us in this generation
of not heeding your voice,
of refusing or failing to recognize
God's loving presence among us
in you through the Church.
If our non-Christian brothers and
sisters were given the same 
chance we have been given in
belonging to your Church, 
maybe they have been more 
generous, more kind, and 
more ardent in their faith.
Forgive us, dear Jesus,
for not listening to your words, 
for not meeting you,
for always missing your coming to us
in the Church, in the Sacraments,
and most especially, in the Scriptures.
Sometimes, Lord Jesus
we are like those two Hebrews fighting
pacified by Moses in the first reading
who missed the opportunity of meeting God,
of discovering God among our community
when the culprit dared ask Moses:
"Who has appointed you ruler
and judge over us?
Are you thinking of killing me
as you killed the Egyptian?"
Then Moses became afraid and thought, 
"The affair must certainly be known." 
(cf.Ex.2:11-14)
Teach us, dear Lord
to be like the sister of Moses
who ensured she would not miss
the important opportunity when the Pharaoh's
daughter found baby Moses in a basket among
the reeds while taking a bathe at the river
to find their own mother to nurse the child
you have destined to set free your people from Egypt.
Make us realize every moment a grace of encountering
you Lord, of making your wonderful plans happen.
Amen.

Plan of God, our plan

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of the Dedication of St. Mary Major in Rome, 05 August 2020
Jeremiah 31:1-7 <*(((><< | + | >><)))*> Matthew 15:21-28
Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, St. Mary Major in Rome, 2018.

O God our almighty Father, in all eternity you have planned what is best for each of us and we thank you so much for that for your great wisdom matched with your immense love for us.

Unfortunately, we always run away from you, discarding your plans for our own personal plans that most often do not work because these are based on what we want, what we like and not of what is really best for us.

Help us to seek your plans for us, Lord, by remaining in you, trusting you because you know what is best for us being our Maker.

Open our selves to you to redeem us from our disgrace and infirmities by seeking your plans in rebuilding our lives like your so-called “remnants of Israel” in the first reading – the few who have remained faithful to you despite the turning away from you of majority of Israelites who chose to worship false gods in the time of Jeremiah.

And ironically, to be like that Canaanite woman at the region of Tyre and Sidon – though a pagan – who remained faithful to you waiting for the Christ to come by holding on to your plans, hoping in your plans, and finally realizing your plans of healing and salvation in Jesus!

Grant us the perseverance and love to seek, believe in your plans for us like the Blessed Virgin Mary as we celebrate today the Memorial of the Dedication of St. Mary Major in Rome, one of our four Major Churches and first Marian shrine in the whole Christendom.

How lovely it is, O God, that you literally laid out your plans for this Basilica when the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to a faithful Christian couple as well as Pope Liberius in the year 358 to build a church in her honor on the site where snow would fall on the night of August 4-5.

And you did make snow to fall on that night, forcing Pope Liberius to trace the outlines of the church on the snow where the first basilica was built!

But, it was only the beginning of the unfolding of your plans: the Basilica of St. Mary Major was completed a century later after the Council of Ephesus in 431 where Mary was declared the Mother of God, thus clarifying all doubts on the divinity of your Son Jesus Christ who had come to save us.

May we pause for some moments of silence today to pray and seek your plans for us specially in this time of the pandemic. We pray harder for our leaders in government for humility and honesty in seeking you, O God, to draw a specific plan that is clear and workable to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

This we ask in Jesus Christ’s name, in the power of the Holy Spirit with Mary our Mother. Amen.

Photo by author of a pilgrim writing a petition to the Blessed Mother in a Marian shrine in Madaba, Jordan, 2019.

The temple in our hearts

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest, 31 July 2020
Jeremiah 26:1-9 >>><)))*> >><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 13:54-58
Photo by author, Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.

Praise and glory to you, O God our Father for another week and month about to close before us. And still here we are, alive and safe, making through the many trials and difficulties as we all continue to bear the sufferings of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you for sending us your Son our Lord Jesus Christ who have made our hearts your indwelling.

Unfortunately, like his neighbors, so many times we fail or even refuse to recognize his coming to us.

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” And they took offense at him.

Matthew 13:54-55, 57

So many times, many things run in our minds and in our hearts that we always fail to see and recognize you, sweet Jesus.

Teach us through St. Ignatius your faithful servant who gave us your wonderful gift of discerning the spirits.

Teach us to lay bare ourselves before you, to be true to our thoughts and feelings so that we may sift through all of these to find your holy will, Lord.

Teach us to “omit nothing” as you commanded Jeremiah in the first reading from your words so that we may be able to discern properly what you want from us.

Make our hearts your temple, O Lord, dwell inside and reign over us so that we may understand fully the meaning of “positive indifference” taught us by St. Ignatius:

“We should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. . . . Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.”

Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius

Let our thoughts and actions always begin and happily end in your greater glory, Lord.

Amen.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!

All in God’s hands

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Week XII, Year II in Ordinary Time, 26 June 2020
2 Kings 25:1-12 >>)))*> >>)))*> >>)))*> Matthew 8:1-4
Photo by author, Assumption Sabbath, Baguio City, 2019.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately.

Matthew 8:1-3

Nothing happens in this life without you fully knowing all about it, Lord God almighty. From the air that we breathe, to the rising and the setting of the sun, to everything —- you fully know them all, Lord and you choose to let them work in our favor despite our turning away from you in sins.

Praise and glory to you, God, and we thank you for your goodness to continue to will what is best for us despite our sinfulness.

May we keep this always in our minds and hearts that nothing escapes you; that sometimes, you just let us go on with our lives so we can finally have a taste of what we choose in this life.

And we seem to never ever learn as we continue to be proud before you, refusing to be humble that until the end, we are forced by our wrong and sinful decisions to eat us up, to shame us like Jerusalem that was almost annihilated by the Babylonians after her fall.

You never punish your people; you only will what is good for us — to be healed, to be cleansed, to be saved in Jesus Christ your Son!

May we always come to you, Lord, asking your will and plans for us, as we readily submit to you. Amen.

Lobby of the Assumption Sabbath in Baguio City, 2019.

God calls, we respond… not the other way around.

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, Week XXX, Year I, 30 October 2019

Romans 8:26-30 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 13:22-30

Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Pena, Chapel of St. John of God Hospital in Barcelona, Spain (August 2019).

Every day, every night, O Lord, we come to you to pray.

But so often, we forget we merely respond to your call when we pray.

How sad that when we pray, we come to you demanding you, asking you for so many things without us realizing that we pray primarily to ask you what you want us to do for you!

We are not the masters telling you, O God, what you must do or give us; we are your “unworthy” servants who must ask what you want from us.

May we allow always the Holy Spirit to direct our prayers the way you would want it to be because…

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Instead of being so concerned with how many or how few would be saved, may we focus more on how to “strive to enter through the narrow gate” of salvation.

Direct us, O Lord, to your holy will in the way you would want us to fulfill it. Amen.