Faith in God, faith in people

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 20 August 2023
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 ><}}}*> Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 ><}}}*> Matthew 15:21-28

Weddings are special occasions for me as a priest because they remind me so much of God’s presence in our time. Weddings gladden my heart as a priest because I find faith, hope and love still so vibrant in our own time when people seem to have turned away from God and spiritual values in exchange of material things. Weddings remind me that faith in God is also faith in one another.

Last Sunday we have reflected that outside forces like storms can never determine God’s presence in our lives. He is always present; problem is with us always absent, running away from him. In fact, our gospel this Sunday tells us how Jesus even dares to go to foreign territory just to find us, to heal us, and bring us back home to the Father.

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus’ disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Matthew 15:21-24

*Photo by author, Caesarea in northern Israel near Tyre and Sidon in Syria, May 2019.*

What a beautiful scene presenting to us God’s love for each of us, of Jesus going into foreign and pagan territory to save us, to share us his good news of salvation. But, are we there to meet Jesus when we are in unusual circumstances in our lives?

Like what we have reflected last Sunday, we need to have that sacred space within us where we could be one with God in Jesus in prayer where we grow deeper in faith, hope and love. There is no doubt with the presence of God in our lives but are we attuned with him?

That day when Jesus withdrew to Tyre and Sidon, there were also many other people who were also sick or with sick family members but, it was only the Canaanite woman who had faith that she recognized Jesus as the Christ by calling him not just “Lord” but also “Son of David.” Though a pagan, she recognized Jesus as the promised Savior of the world, not just of the Jews! Many times in life we are that Canaanite woman, feeling so alone in a foreign territory or unusual situations with nobody to come to for any kind of help or even companionship except God alone. Hence, the need to cultivate a prayer life so we can have that sacred space within us for God, where Jesus comes and dwells.

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

But, there is something else interesting in this scene not just the faith of the Canaanite woman in Christ but also with others. Our faith in God is expressed in our faith with others too. The depth and strength of our faith can be measured with our faith in one another especially those dearest to us.

See the Canaanite woman’s POV or “point of view” and contrast it with the apostles who begged Jesus to entertain her so that she would get out of their way. The apostles wanted to get rid of her because she was making a great commotion. Maybe they felt so ashamed, so jahi to the madlang people!

How sad that we act like the Twelve many times in our lives, with that great disparity between what we believe and what we live. This is the tragedy especially of those serving in the Church with us priests included. Do we believe others as the presence of God? What a tragedy when we categorize people as ones to keep and others to dismiss for whatever reason. Like the apostles, we feel suspicious of those asking Jesus or, us for help. Do they really believe her daughter was sick? Did they believe the Canaanite woman at all?

For us to get a clearer snapshot of the Canaanite woman’s faith and POV, let us return for a while why Jesus ignored her by reminding his disciples that, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Recall that was also his instruction to his apostles after naming them and sent them to their first mission not to go to pagan territories but look for the lost sheep of Israel.

But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it away to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.
Matthew 15:25-28

*Photo by author, Katmon Nature Reserve & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.*

Their conversation about the bread and the dogs reminds us of the wedding feast at Cana when Mary approached Jesus to inform him that the newly-wed couples have ran out of wine. When Jesus told her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn. 2:4), we find it echoing here in Tyre and Sidon when he told the Twelve, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Here now is the most beautiful part, the POV of the Canaanite woman who was very much like the Blessed Virgin Mary when she came and did homage to Jesus, begging “Lord, help me.”

I love that part of the Canaanite woman begging Jesus in the name of her daughter. When she finally had the attention of Jesus, she said “Lord, help me”, – not “Lord, help my daughter tormented by a demon”! It was her daughter in need of healing but the woman identified with her just like Mary when she told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn.2:5).

What a lovely and amazing scene of faith in God and faith in others! Both Mary believing in Jesus passing on her faith to the servers and the Canaanite woman assuming into her the faith of her sick daughter. It was indeed a tough and deep faith she had professed to Jesus like the servers at the wedding in Cana: it was just a matter of time before something great happens. She felt it coming when she said even the dogs eat the scraps falling from their master’s table.

In life, like that Canaanite woman and the Blessed Virgin Mary, we have to assert even insist our faith while at the same time claiming whatever we believe is ours even if we have to wait. That is why St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading of the need to cultivate and deepen our faith even if God’s gifts and call are permanent and irrevocable (Rom.11:29) because we might fall into the same mistake of his fellow Jews who felt so secured in their beliefs and failed to recognize Jesus as the Christ.

Every Sunday, Jesus calls us to gather for the Eucharist. Everybody is welcomed, especially those feeling lost and alienated, or considered as outsiders because Isaiah prophesied in the first reading today, “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is.56:7). Jesus comes to us in his words, in his Body and Blood, in one another especially those nearest to us like our family, your spouse or wife, your children, our siblings, our parents.

It is a Sunday. Let us gather as one family in the house of Lord, to share in his table of the word and of the bread – believing, hoping, and loving. Amen.

“Habang Buhay” by Zack Tabudlo (2021)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 30 July 2023

*Photo by author in San Juan, La Union, 26 July 2023.*

Finally we’re back! Sorry for being silent with our Sunday music blog relating secular songs with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For our return engagement since our last blog in June 11, 2023 with Stephen Bishop’s Parked Cars (https://lordmychef.com/2023/06/11/parked-cars-by-stephen-bishop/), we feature this Sunday one of our favorite local talents, Mr. Zack Tabudlo with his 2021 hit Habang Buhay from his album called Episode.

We can’t recall where and when we first heard this swinging OPM love song that sounds like from our era of VST & Co. Fact is, Tabudlo has other previous hits before Habang Buhay which struck us with two important things we find so close to our Sunday gospel.

First is its melodic upbeat tune teeming with profundity despite its being so light and refreshing to listening (and dancing). Though we find traces of influence from the late 1970 to1980’s disco era in Tabudlo’s music, Habang Buhay is so sincere with its Gen Z identity that is authentically so Pinoy especially with its shouts of Halika nga that is twice repeated.

Aking sinta, ano ba'ng mayro'n sa iyo?
'Pag nakikita ka na, bumabagal ang mundo

'Pag ngumingiti ka, para bang may iba
'Pag tumitingin sa 'kin, mapupungay mong mga mata
Wala akong takas sa nakakalunod mong ganda, ha
Halika nga (ha, ha, ha)

That shout of Halika nga is so typically Pinoy, so warm and genteel like Jesus Christ calling us to be open to his parables, to find God hidden in the most simplest things of ordinary life. Halika nga evokes those tender, loving calls of our Lola during summer vacation calling us to change clothes soaked in dirt and perspiration with a glass of Julep or Sunny Orange juice during those endless afternoons of fun and games.

Halika nga sometimes is an expression of playfulness masking as deeply serious. It is something we rarely hear these days because nobody seems to offer us with comfort and company, with love and concern anymore.

In Habang Buhay, Tabudlo is overjoyed, playfully or teasingly calling his beloved halika nga for them to bask and savor this wonderful love they have found. If we could just hear Jesus calling us too, telling us halika nga to stay with him to discover God as the only worthwhile love and treasure we could ever have in this life.

And where do we find that kind of love? In Christ’s dying for us on the Cross which Tabuldo had thought of as the true expression of his love that is faithful until the end.

Andito 'ko hanggang sa 'ting pagtanda
Mamahalin kita basta't 'pag nahulog
Nakahawak ako, 'wag ka lang bibitaw
Habang-buhay na ako'y iyo

Wala nang ibang nakagawa sa 'kin nang ganito
Kundi ikaw, nag-iisang diyosa ng buhay ko

'Wag ka nang matakot, 'wag kang mangamba
Andito ako 'pag ika'y mag-isa
Wala akong takas sa nakakalunod mong ganda, ha
Halika nga (ha, ha, ha)

This is the second thing that struck us in Habang Buhay, an amazing song that speaks of love that is pure and true, and most of all, willing to suffer and sacrifice. Like in the gospel today of the parables of the treasure buried in the field that prompted the farmer to sell all his possessions to acquire that property and of the fine pearl found by a merchant who also sold everything he had just to have it. The same is true with love, and with God: what are we willing to let go to have the love of our life?

It’s a rarity in this fast-paced world to hear from young people speaking about love in its deeper sense like the giving of self for a beloved, giving us deep sighs of relief that we’re leaving this world in good hands. Habang Buhay assures us not only of a love that is forever but invites us too to trust the next generation by witnessing to them Christ’s love found on the Cross. Amen.

From YouTube.com

On choosing well

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 30 July 2023
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 >><}}}}*> Romans 8:28-30 >><}}}}*> Matthew 13:44-46

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

We are now in the final installment of Jesus Christ’s parables this third consecutive Sunday of his teachings on the kingdom of heaven. It is hoped by this time we have learned and realized God is the only treasure we must have in this life.

And the good news is that God our treasure is found in the most ordinary things!

Many times he simply comes to us even without us looking for him while often would also appear if we truly seek him like in the two short parables we heard this Sunday.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”
Matthew 13:44-46

*Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.*

Our gospel may be the shortest these past three Sundays but it challenges us to be wiser in making choices to acquire the only worthy treasure of all – God.

Both the farmer and the merchant exemplify to us this wisdom in letting go of their other possessions just to have the buried treasure and pearl they have found.

Note how the farmer merely chanced upon the treasure buried in a field not his, while the merchant finally found the fine pearl after years of searching all his life. Here we are reminded how God is not that difficult to find by those truly seeking him. The problem lies with us when we refuse to be the good soil so that the seeds sown in us may grow and bear fruit even amid the weeds! Many times, we have stopped having that sense of awe, of being surprised by God who is like a treasure buried in a field somewhere waiting to be found. Worst, a lot often we have simply given up searching for God as if it is impossible to find him like a fine pearl. God is with us in Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel.

This is the good news of our short parables today. Moreover, God even comes to ask us what we want in life like King Solomon in the first reading. Later in the gospel we find Jesus Christ also asking the blind Bartimaeus what does he want while passing by the city of Jericho. Notice how those healed by Jesus always had clear thoughts and focus, so wise in their choices of what they wanted in life like King Solomon. Can we be wise enough like Solomon in choosing well, in asking the right thing from God?

The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon answered: “O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?” the Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request.
1 Kings 3:5-7, 9-10

What is so beautiful, even wonderful here is not just the nearness of God with us but his kindness in asking us what we want. Imagine God saying, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”

What shall we ask God if he were to come to us in a dream tonight like Solomon? Perhaps we would be at a loss! Remember, God is asking for just one thing we want. At least the genie usually gives three wishes, with only the third one as most crucial being the last for which we are told to always ask for three more wishes!

Here we find again Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why most useful because our whys give us the reason and meaning for whatever we wish to accomplish. Exactly what Solomon must have considered as he laid out to God his situation, his needs, most of all his weakness, “I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.” See why Solomon asked for that grace instead of wealth or fame or strong army?

It is that consciousness of being small and weak before God that pleases him most in granting our prayers. Earlier before this scene Jesus praised and thanked God in giving wisdom to the little ones who accepted him than the wise and the learned who rejected him (Mt.11:25). That is the attitude of being a “good soil” who allows the seed to penetrate and absorb us!

God was so pleased with Solomon because he knew so well his whys that to govern Israel so well amid his many weaknesses, he needed God more than ever. Unlike Adam and Eve who tried to usurp God in his power in knowing right from wrong, Solomon recognized it as divine prerogative we can only share with God. Actually, what he asked for was God himself who is the treasure hidden in the field and the fine pearl found by the merchant. Solomon did not want to be like God inasmuch as he never thought of being wealthy and powerful nor famous that are of no value at all compared to having wisdom, in having a discerning heart to know right from wrong.

*Photo by author, shore of the Lake of Galilee in Capernaum, Israel, May 2017.*

I have realized in my 25 years as a priest that what we treasure most are not the ones that give us pleasure but the ones who complete us. We ask and pray to God for something or someone not because of need but more of fulfillment found only in Jesus Christ who promised that whatever we ask from his Father would be granted to us in his name if it is for the mission he had entrusted to us. That is why in my prayers, I no longer ask God for anything except of being with him in eternity because I am so sure that whatever I need, he would give. Most of all, if I have God, then I am complete.

The parables of Jesus are inexhaustibly rich yet so accessible to everyone with open minds and open hearts to meet God in Christ through the simple realities of life. That is why St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that “all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Let us pray for more zeal and enthusiasm in being the good soil, in choosing wisely the only treasure worthy in this life who is Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel or God-is-with-us. Let us welcome him in the many parables of life we take for granted that are all part of God’s plan of salvation for us leading to glory that is our destiny. Amen. Today is Sunday, go to Mass and pray for those severely affected by super typhoon Egay especially our brothers and sisters in northern Luzon.

When we are lost, then found

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 April 2023

*Photo by author, 08 February 2023, Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.*

We all know 
that feeling happening
more often lately
a foreboding of senility?
when we go like crazy
why can't we see suddenly
some things we have
held or kept momentarily
until we sound the alarm
and call everyone
to join in the search
but still nowhere to be found.

It could be the key
or the glasses or the phone
that in exasperation
we say begone
only to make us
forlorn figures
in our own home
or tiny room
but sometimes too soon
other times would take
too long, our lost 
things are suddenly found!

Is it part of the riddle
of that black hole they call
when missing things
suddenly appear
without being sought
much less thought?
But here is the thrill:
when things even persons
are missing,
are we not the ones 
who are lost
and waiting to be found?

More than the
naked shouts of eureka
is our profound joy
when missing things
even persons suddenly
appear because the truth
is, we were the ones lost
and could not be found
in our cluttered minds
and hearts shut and closed
by our fears and doubts, 
anxieties and insecurities.

In this life
far wider than the world
where planes still go missing
amid modern technologies
and endless searching,
could it be that we are 
missing our bearings
as beings, forgetting 
God and others when we are
lost to our own beliefs or
locked in our small world
of lies and prejudice?

To find those missing 
persons or things dear to us
it might help if we first lose
whatever is holding us
for the world is so wide
for anyone or anything 
to just disappear 
they surely must be here
awaiting for our hearts 
to be clear until we hear
that sweet voice
giving us peace within.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:19-20

*Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com*

God living among us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, 25 November 2022
Revelation 20:1-4, 11-22:2 ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> + ><]]]'> Luke 21:29-33

God our loving Father,
your words today spoken both by
John and your Son Jesus Christ
are frightening at first hearing;
but, as we dwell more on your words,
we are comforted because your promised
end of the world is the beginning
of "new heaven and new earth"
(Revelation 21:1-2);
it has started coming already
in the birth of Jesus Christ 
as we join the psalmist
in proclaiming this wonderful truth,
"Here God lives among his people"
(responsorial psalm).

"My soul yearns and pines for 
the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh 
cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest in which
she puts her young ---
your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my king and my God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
Blessed the men whose strength
you are!"
(Psalm 84:3, 4, 5, 6)

Despite the many trials
and sufferings we have been going 
through, you never ceased to
guide us to life and fulfillment
in you through Jesus Christ.
Make us aware and conscious
of your presence among our brothers
and sisters especially those in pain
and in the margins;
may our eyes,
our minds,
and our hearts
be open to your presence
in everyone we meet inasmuch
as we can read the signs of 
the fig tree and other trees
(Luke 21:29-30);
may we stop for a while
in our tasks and duties
to feel each one's humanity
and personhood to find you
and experience you.
Amen.

Bearing with one another

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Twenty-Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 21 October 2022
Ephesians 4:1-6 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 12:54-59

Another week is closing,
another week is beginning
and still, Lord Jesus,
as you have noticed,
we still can't interpret
the present time as
your very presence
in everyone of us.

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain – and do it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot – and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
Luke 12:54-57

St. Paul's admonition
to the Ephesians is most
timely even to us these days
when our season is in transition
but not our sensitivities to one another;
teach us to live in a manner worthy of
our calling as "Christians" - brothers and
sisters in you, dear Jesus and most of all,
your followers.

Teach us, dear Jesus, 
to "bear one another through love,
striving to preserve" our unity
as one family in one loving Father above;
so many times, we can read the weather
but not people, becoming callous
and numb to one another's presence
and needs, pains and hurts;
heighten our sensitivities so
we may be more compassionate
with everyone, be more consoling
and caring, most of all, understanding
and kind by seeing God's image and 
likeness in each one's face.
Amen.

Bless our (stubborn) generation

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, 10 October 2022
Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Luke 11:29-32

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, in France, March 2022.*

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”
Luke 11:29

I could feel your words,
Lord Jesus, today:
so strong,
so direct,
so true;
yes, dear Jesus,
your words are
meant for us 
today.

What an evil generation
we are in still seeking
signs from you
for even those entrusted
to witness your presence,
your love and mercy
are nowhere to be found,
seeking signs of you
and worst,
creating so many conflicting
signs of you!

We have been so stubborn
like the Galatians;
we prefer going back to
old, evil ways
as we insist on what 
we believe as true,
on what we have been used to
that until now so many of us
are still trapped 
and enslaved to sins 
of bigotry and prejudice,
refusing to find you
among everyone
especially the sick,
the poor,
and disadvantaged.

Bless us, dear Jesus,
and set us free from
our stubbornness;
soften our hardened hearts,
open wide our constricted
minds and perceptions
to find you present 
in our lives daily,
both in our joys and pains,
in our ease and struggles,
and especially
with everyone we 
meet each day.
Amen.

Prayer is emptiness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest, 06 October 2022
Galatians 3:1-5 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 11:5-13

*Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 10 September 2022.*

Remind us, 
O Lord Jesus Christ,
that "while the world changes,
the cross stands firm",
that you alone, 
Jesus Christ
is our salvation
and way to perfection
as the Carthusians
had held for almost 
a thousand years.

Like St. Bruno
their founder and father,
let us "seek God 
assiduously
to find God promptly
and to possess God
fully."

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks the door, the door will be opened.”
Luke 11:9-10

Stop our foolishness,
our being stupid like the
Galatians as St. Paul
called them in the first reading:
prayer is not an ATM
where we go to get cash
we need nor an apps
when we can just seek,
find and have whatever
we desire and need;
PRAYER IS EMPTINESS.

Teach us Jesus 
to lay ourselves bare,
to strip ourselves
naked before you;
teach us to ask for YOU,
to seek YOU,
and to enter YOU.

How foolish we
have become
that we have been
misleading people
from you because 
we teach wrongly
about prayer that
is centered on us
and our needs and
desires, making God
a Santa Claus
or even a genie.

Make us persevere
in emptying ourselves
of our pride
to be filled with your 
humility and love,
to be an indwelling
of the Holy Spirit
so that we become more
like you, Jesus,
fulfilled and at peace.
Amen.

Seeing Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Twenty-Fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 22 September 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:7-9

*Photo by author, sunrise at Our Lady of Fatima University in Antipolo City, August 2022.*

Your words today, 
O Lord our God are
"greatly perplexing" 
that I feel like Herod
the tetrarch in the gospel
"trying to see" you,
Jesus (Lk.9:7-9).

So many times
I have prayed before
asking you how I 
wanted to see you
because "all is vanity
in this world; nothing is new
under the sun.  Even the
thing we say as new has already
existed in the ages that
preceded us" (Eccl.1:2,9-10);
and so, what else is there
for us to see in this world,
in this life but you, 
dear Jesus!

But, how can we see you
truly, O Lord Jesus, so that
we may also find the meaning
of this life amid all the vanities
around us?

When a group of Greeks
came to Jerusalem and
requested to see you
just before Good Friday,
you replied through Philip 
with the falling and dying 
of a grain of wheat 
(Jn.12:20-26) to show us
that in order to see you,
we have to learn to look
through your Cross; 
that we can only see you, 
Jesus, in your Passion
and Death to see your glory
in your Resurrection.

Forgive us, Lord,
when so many times
we wax our desire to see you
with novelties and sentimentalities
of the world that are simply 
vanities like Herod the Tetrarch;
let us go down to our knees
before you on the Cross,
commune with you in
prayers before the Blessed
Sacrament and most especially, 
live by witnessing your pasch
in a world so fascinated with
drama and effects
than with essence
that is love willing to
suffer and die like you
on the Cross.
Amen.

Finding God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Dominic de Guzman, Priest, 08 August 2022
Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28 ><))))*> + <*((((>< Matthew 17:22-27

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

Once in a while, 
I imagine dear God
our Father what would
it be like to have a vision
of you, to find you and
your dwelling place?
Would I have the
courage and composure
of your prophet Ezekiel?

As I looked, a storm wind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire enveloped its brightness, from the midst of which (the midst of fire) something gleamed like spectrum. Within it there were figures resembling four living creatures that looked like this: Their form was human… Like the bow that appears in the clouds on a rainy day, was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
Ezekiel 1:4-5, 28

You are always with us,
dear God, revealing your 
truth, goodness, and beauty;
you cannot be kept in any 
particular place for you are
all-powerful and in fact, 
the sole legitimate power
for everything belongs to
you as implied by Jesus to Simon
in today's gospel (Mt.17:22-27).
There is no need for me to have
the apocalyptic vision of Ezekiel
to find and see your dazzling 
majesty; just give me the humility
like of St. Dominic to passionately
seek you in prayers and studies,
following his footsteps in simplicity
of life and self-denial so that upon
finding your light and your truth, 
I may share you in Jesus Christ 
with everyone.
Amen.