Tag: Face

A prayer to be grateful

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday, Week XXII, Year I, 04 September 2019

Colossians 1:1-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:38-44

Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.

Heavenly Father, I always thank you in my prayers. Early in life, I have been told to always say “thank you” and I have diligently kept that, always thanking people especially you for your goodness to me.

But, now I wonder if I have been “thanking” so much without being truly grateful?

There are “thank you’s” that come from lips and there are “thank you’s” that come from the heart which is what gratitude is all about. So often, I say “thank you” out of habit without really looking into the heart, the goodness of the one doing or giving me a favor. Too often, I thank for the thing or favor, not the person.

“We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jess and the love that you have for all the holy ones because of the hope reserved for you in heaven.”

Colossians 1:3-5

How lovely it is to dwell on St. Paul’s expression of his gratitude, his thanksgiving that is clearly directed to persons – including you, O God!

Like the people of Capernaum where you have healed Simon’s mother-in-law and others, they saw your person to thank that they begged you to stay in their town.

Remind me always, Lord, that whenever I say “thank you”, I may first try to feel the heart and experience the goodness of the person doing me good for a grateful heart always sees the loving face. Amen.

Seeing Jesus, Seeing God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Saturday, Easter Week IV, 18 May 2019
Acts 13:44-52///John 14:7-14
Facade of the wall enclosing the St. Katherine Monastery in Sinai, Egypt. At its back is Mt. Sinai where pilgrims begin their ascent to the mountain where God met with Moses. Photo by author 06 May 2019.

So many times, Lord Jesus, we desire to see your Father. But so many times, too, we forget that whoever has seen you has also seen the Father…

Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

John 14:8-9

But, what is really to see you, Lord, that we may also see the Father?

If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives its unity and oneness with you, then, let us imitate you Jesus that our lives may also be like yours.

If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives your mercy and forgiveness of our sins, then, let us be merciful and forgiving with others so we see more of you Jesus among us.

If seeing the Father is seeing in our lives the grace to rise above our lowly selves to become better persons, to be holy like the Father in heaven, then, let us strive to get closer to you Jesus by following you faithfully in loving service with others.

Through you, O Christ, you have brought the Father closest to us; and in you, O Jesus, the Father approaches us, drawing us unto him by leading us beyond ourselves into his infinite greatness and love.

Like what you did through the Holy Spirit to Paul and Barnabas in the first reading today, help us to keep our cool amid many adversaries, filled with joy in the face of many crises and obstacles because we have seen seen you and the Father too! Amen.

Kept inside this chapel in the Monastery of St. Katherine in Sinai, Egypt is said to be the burning bush where God first appeared to Moses. Photo by author, 06 May 2019.