To err is human, to forgive, divine.

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 13 September 2026
Sirach 27:30-28:7 ><}}}}*> Romans 14:7-9 ><}}}}*> Matthew 18:21-35

*Photo by a friend in Seabrook, Washington, 06 September 2026.*

You must have heard that quote so often, “To err is human, to forgive is divine” from the English writer Alexander Pope’s 1711 poem An Essay on Criticism where he originally wrote “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”

For many it has become a cliche because it is so difficult to forgive. Especially if it has to be done repeatedly. It is among the hardest teachings of Jesus Christ along with the love of enemies, of doing good to those who hate us, and lending without expecting anything back.

In a sense, forgiving is the twin teaching of fraternal correction which Jesus taught us last Sunday; the more difficult it becomes when the wrong done is against us that we feel much like Peter in asking Jesus how many times must we forgive:

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not even seven times but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21-22).

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: (SEPTEMBER 11 RETROSPECTIVE) Smoke pours from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after they were hit by two hijacked airliners in a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

Like fraternal correction, forgiving is a major concern in this modern time when the means and forms of evil have become sophisticated like terrorism and online scams that unfortunately happen not only on the world stage but right into our personal lives and relationships too.

We have all experienced being pushed to the limits as our patience is exhausted when a beloved is the one sinning against us that is both unacceptable and most unkind of all especially if the sin is committed repeatedly, prompting us to ask God like Peter how many times must we forgive our brother or sister. The figure “seven times” given by Peter is not the literal number but refers to the very many times we have forgiven somebody to wear out our patience.

What Peter was asking was a freedom from calculation of repeatedly forgiving one who repeatedly sins because that kind of forgiveness does not come naturally to any of us humans. Repeatedly forgiving someone who repeatedly sins is most difficult because it abuses our very person, our being Christian.

And there lies the bigger problem and difficulty about repeatedly forgiving someone who repeatedly sins who most often is dearest to us like your husband or wife, our parents or one of your children or a sibling.

The truth is, inasmuch as we ask like Peter so often how many times we must forgive our loved ones, the crux of the problem in forgiving is actually deep inside our hearts we still love them that we just forgive and forgive them. That is the mystery, the most baffling of all: why do we keep on forgiving somebody who keeps on sinning. Recall St. Paul’s words last Sunday “to owe no one except the debt of love” so that the more we love, we realize we can love like Jesus after all because forgiving is actually the work of God in us, with us, and through us in Christ.

Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount… Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount… Instead, he had him in prison until he paid back the debt. His master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you? Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart” (Matthew 18:22-24, 27-28, 30, 32-35).

*St. John Paul II meeting and forgiving his assassin Mehmet Agca in prison two years after the failed assassination attempt to his life at St. Peter’s Square, 13 May 1981.*

Jesus explains in his parable that forgiving is actually a work of God, divine in nature as Alexander Pope tells us in his famous line “to err is human, to forgive, divine.”

We forgive because we are forgiven beloved. Jesus grounds this teaching not in willpower but in being like God the master in his parable, “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”

Jesus knows us so well as humans, sinful and weak who could not generate forgiveness and mercy out of nothing; it is very clear in his parable that we simply have to let flow towards others something of the forgiveness and mercy we have already received from the Father through him. Ben Sirach stressed this in our first reading, reminding us that our own capacity to receive forgiveness from God is bound up with our willingness to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Worthy of keeping in mind too that Jesus tells at the onset of his parable that forgiving is about the kingdom of heaven, not of this world wherein our debt to God is beyond measure like that servant. While we may argue that we are better than those criminals in jails or those corrupt officials now either sick to stand trial or have fled, it is pointless to compare and “measure” our sins because every sin is not only against another person but to God himself – the Perfect One who is love himself.

When we forgive, that is when we level up our existence, when we live in Christ as St. Paul says in the second reading because our lives belong to God and to one another, not as the world tells us to control our lives and be masters of the universe. It is when we forgive that we are truly a church, a body of believers Jesus founded on Peter in Caesarea Philippi because that is when we live and die in Christ, becoming his vessels of mercy and forgiveness.

Most of all, it is in forgiving that we become truly free as a human, when we break free from the past hurts and grievances that pin us down, preventing us from moving forward in life. When we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us, we actually yield to their power and control. Hence, in all practicality, it is always best to forgive.

But there is something most deep and true about forgiving which clearly manifests our own mortality and rootedness in God who is our origin and end, “Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!” (Sir. 28:6)

This Sunday, we are reminded to check and be aware of any resentments and anger we may still be carrying as we refuse to forgive lest we end like that unforgiving servant. Take this time to forgive for life is really too short to waste in keeping those grudges. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Praying to “see” Jesus like Mary Magdalene

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2026
2 Corinthians 5:14-17     <*{{{{><  + ><}}}}*>     John 20:1-2, 11-18

*“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene”, painting in 1835 by Russian painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov now hanging at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; from en.wikipedia.org.*

"I have seen the Lord!"
(John 20:18)

What a joy must have been
for St. Mary Magdalene to 
proclaim to the Apostles your rising,
your appearance to her,
Lord Jesus.

Most joyous of all,
Lord is how you have called her
by name, "Mary!"

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:1, 11-14).

Many times Lord Jesus
I feel like St. Mary Magdalene
on that very early morning
of Easter:
feeling lost or
distant from you
who seem to be missing
or taken away from me;
but so often,
like St. Mary Magdalene,
we fail to recognize you
with our eyes because
we picture you so differently
to who you really are.

Many times our
sight fails
that is why most often,
you call us
by name;
unfortunately in this age
of social media and so many
other distractions in life,
 we fail to hear nor even
listen to your voice
because we are afraid of silence
as we are so afraid
of the truth -
that you love us so much
that is why you have forgiven our sins.

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:16-18).

*“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.*

Everyday you
come to us,
Jesus,
calling us by name
like Mary Magdalene -
someone you personally know,
with all of our sins
and most kept secrets
in our hearts,
in our past.

If we could just be patient
like St. Mary Magdalene
in picking the pieces of our lives,
of converting daily,
of transcending the scars
of sins of our past,
then we shall hear
and joyously listen
to your voice
spoken in a whisper,
so sweet,
so reassuring
 of your real presence,
most of all
filled with tenderness
because you love us
immensely,
Jesus.

If we could just listen
to your voice, Jesus,
then like St. Mary Magdalene,
we can proclaim too
with joyful enthusiasm
to other disciples
"I have seen the Lord!"
spreading you love
and good news of salvation.
Amen.

*From Facebook, April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord!”*

Lent is mercy of God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Lent, 02 March 2026
Daniel 9:4-10     + + +     Luke 6:36-38

*Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano on Pexels.com*

Your words today,
O Lord Jesus
are short but give
much to reflect on:
"Be merciful...
stop judging...
stop condemning...
Forgive...
Give."

Jesus,
teach me to be
"shamefaced"
like Daniel in the first
reading: it is not enough
that I realize my sinfulness,
of my wickedness in refusing
to love, in turning away from you,
in disregarding your words
over and over and still -
be forgiven and loved.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

So often in life,
I forget the Father's
mercy that I have totally
been oblivious to being
merciful; thank you Jesus
in giving this comparison today,
of being merciful as the Father
is merciful.

What a shame
of how often I look up
to myself as so good,
so righteous
against others
that I judge
and condemn them;
teach me to be like
you, Lord: merciful,
non-judgmental,
forgiving;
most of all,
teach me to give
freely like you, Lord;
remind me always
to remember your 
mercy on me
to realize that 
more than an ideal, 
mercy is about 
how it feels
in my own life.

Lord Jesus Christ,
you have given me with
so much love and mercy,
kindness and forgiveness
of sins but I have refused
to be merciful with others;
have mercy on me, Lord
and let me be merciful
like the Father.
Amen.

Forgiving & listening

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 29 January 2025
Hebrews 10:11-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> Mark 4:1-20

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin (Hebrews 10:18).

How lovely and reassuring
are these words from the author
of the Letter to the Hebrews today,
Lord Jesus Christ;
thank you for coming 
to save us from our sins,
for forgiving our sins,
for teaching us to forgive others
most especially by being more
loving.

Thank you, Jesus,
for being the Sower,
always coming out to
scatter seeds of love and mercy
to us; open our ears, Lord,
that we may ought to hear
you: forgive us for being hard
and harsh in our ways and words,
forgive us for being easily
pricked and agitated,
forgive us for not listening
at all to you, Jesus.

Let me open myself to you,
Jesus, by opening myself too
with others to listen to their
points of view in order 
to understand them, 
not to judge them;
open myself to your healing
words so I may also soothe 
others pains and hurts
than add salt to their injuries.
Lastly, let me do your will
Jesus by always listening
and forgiving.
Amen.

Ang kasalanang hindi natin alam

Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-20 ng Marso 2024
Unang Huling Wika ni Jesus sa Krus

Ang Unang Wika ni Jesus:

Nang dumating sila sa dakong tinatawag na Bungo, ipinako nila sa krus si Jesus. Ipinako rin ang dalawang salarin, isa sa gawing kanan at isa sa gawing kaliwa. Sinabi ni Jesus, “Ama, patawarin mo sila, sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman ang kanilang ginagawa.” At nagsapalaran sila upang malaman kung alin sa kanyang kasuutan ang mapupunta sa isa’t isa.
Lukas 23:33-34

Kay sarap isipin at namnamin na ang kauna-unahang mga salita na sinabi ni Jesus nang ipako siya ay krus ay ang kapatawaran sa ating mga kasalanan. Hindi lamang doon sa mga mismong nagpako sa kanya sa krus kungdi sa ating lahat ngayon na patuloy pa rin siyang ipinapako sa krus “sapagkat hindi natin nalalaman ating ginagawa.”

Ano nga ba iyong sinasabi ni Jesus na patawarin “sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman kanilang ginagawa”?

Sa kaisipan ng mga Judio, ang “malaman” ay hindi lamang matanto ng kaisipan ano mang data o impormasyon kungdi galaw ng puso at kalooban na pumasok sa pakikipag-ugnayan. Ang malaman ay magkaroon ng ugnayan bilang kapwa-tao sa isa’t isa.

Nang sabihin ni Jesus na “Ama, patawarin mo sila, sapagkat hindi nila nalalaman ang kanilang ginagawa”, ipinaaalala din niya sa ating lahat ang katotohanang dapat malaman natin na tayo ay magkakapatid sa kanya, iisang pamilya sa Diyos na ating Ama.

Sa tuwing sinisira natin ang ating mga ugnayan bilang magkakapatid, sa kada pagbale-wala natin sa bawat tao na tinuturing bilang kasangkapan at gamit para sa sariling kaluguran at kapakinabangan ng walang pag-galang at pagmamahal, doon tayo nagkakasala dahil pinuputol natin ating mga ugnayan.

Madalas, iyan ang hindi natin alam kapag ating inaabuso ating tungkulin at kapangyarihan na dapat ay pangalagaan kapakanan lalo ng mga maliliit at mahihina.

Nagkakasala tayo at hindi natin alam ating ginagawa kapag ating nilalapastangan ating mga magulang lalo na kapag matanda na at mahina o hindi makarinig; kapag sinasaktan ating mga kapatid sa masasakit na pananalita at ating pilit ibinababa kanilang pagkatao.

*Larawan kuha nina Teresa at Luis sa Pexels.com*

Hindi rin natin alam ating ginagawa sa tuwing tayo ay sumisira sa pangakong magmahal sa asawa at kasintahan, kapag tayo ay nagtataksil o nagbubunyag ng sikretong ipinagkatiwala sa atin at tayo ay nagiging plastik sa harap ng iba.

Pinakamasaklap sa mga hindi natin nalalaman ating ginagawang masama ay kapag nawalan tayo ng pag-asa at kumpiyansa sa mga mahal natin sa buhay kaya sila ay atin pinababayaan, ni hindi pinapansin o bigyang-halaga dahil sa paniwalang hindi na sila magbabago pa ng ugali o hindi na gagaling pa sa kanilang sakit at karamdaman lalo na kung matanda na at malapit nang mamatay.

Ngayong mga Mahal na Araw, isipin natin mga tao na ating nasaktan sa ating salita man o gawa dahil ating nalimutan o kinalimutan ituring kapatid at kapwa.

Sinu-sino din ang mga tao na nagpapasakit sa ating kalooban dahil hindi nalalaman kanilang ginagawa? Manalangin tayo:

Ipagpatawad po ninyo,
Panginoong Jesus
aking pagpapako sa iyo muli sa krus
sa tuwing hindi ko nalalaman 
aking ginagawa,
kapag aking nililimot at tinatalikuran
itong pangunahing katotohanan
na igalang at mahalin bawat kapwa;
ipinapanalangin ko sa Iyong habag at awa
mga tao na aking sinaktan at tinalikuran
lalo na yaong mga binigay mo sa akin
tulad ng aking pamilya at kaibigan
at mga dapat pangalagaan;
ipinapanalangin ko rin sa Iyo,
O Jesus, yaong mga nanakit sa aking
damdamin, tumapak at yumurak 
sa aking pagkatao na hanggang ngayon
aking pa ring ibig paghigantihan.
Panginoong Jesus,
huwag ko nawa malimutan
na kami ay magkakapatid,
magkakaugnay
sa iisang Ama
na siyang sinasagisag
ng Iyong Krus na Banal.
Amen.

The scourge & mercy of God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest, 27 September 2023
Ezra 9:5-9 <*(((>< + ><)))*> __ <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 9:1-6

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

Show us your will,
your ways,
and your path,
loving Father
in the face of the many
great changes happening now
in our lives,
in our world,
in our places of work;
truly, changes are
inevitable; in the process,
there would be alterations,
destructions in order to build
like the restoration of your
temple after the exile;
but, dear God, 
let us not forget in all these
our own sinfulness
and your mercy and forgiveness.
Give us the grace to cry
and pray like Ezra:

I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven. From the time of our fathers even to this day great has been our guilt, and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered up, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of foreign lands, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace, as is the case today. And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the Lord our God…”
Ezra 9:6-8

How sad that we
never learn from
our lessons of past sins,
of how the many scourges
we deserve fell on us that
we still keep on living in evil,
denying its hold on us,
becoming blind to all
the excesses around us
that indeed our wicked deeds
are heaped up above our heads!
 
How sad, most of all,
that we easily forget your
love and mercy,
the forgiveness and 
new life you gave us
to start anew
in rebuilding our lives
in you.

Let us heed
your call and summons
to proclaim Christ's
gospel of forgiveness
and healing like 
St. Vincent de Paul
to the many people
deep into sin
and evil these days
because of fame
and power
and wealth.
Amen.

Being like our forgiving God

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 17 September 2023
Sirach 27:30-28:7 ><}}}}*> Romans 14:7-9 ><}}}}*> Matthew 18:21-35

*Photo by author at the RISE Tower, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City, 28 July 2023.*

This past week has been a very toxic one for us in the hospital where I serve as a chaplain.

Beginning last Sunday morning after our Mass at the University adjacent to our hospital, I had to proceed to the ICU to anoint a critical patient who expired 20 minutes later while I was still attending to seven other patients there in the unit. One died that evening, the other the following day. Last Tuesday and Thursday I had to go back to the hospital to anoint four more patients, two of them eventually died before this Saturday.

When that patient died last Sunday morning, the doctors and nurses at the ICU thanked me, telling me how the deceased must have just waited for me to receive the Sacrament of Anointing. “Hinintay lang po kayo, Father.”

I have heard that so many times even while I was assigned in a parish. And every time people would tell me that, I thank God deep in my heart for his infinite love and mercy, in never allowing patients to die until they have been anointed and absolved of their sins. That is why I am so convinced that almost everybody goes to heaven or purgatory when they die because God ensures that each one of us will have a chance to prepare to meet him in heaven. Only a few, even almost no one, except anyone who would reject God totally goes to hell.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.*

My dear friends and family, today we continue the second in a series of what I have told you last Sunday of the Lord’s teaching on some of life’s most delicate issues we are all aware of but find so difficult to accept and practice.

Last Sunday, it was about fraternal correction, of the need for us to speak to those living in sin. Today, Jesus teaches us to forgive those who sin against us.

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants….”
Matthew 18:21-23

Notice how Jesus used a parable in explaining forgiving to Peter and other apostles along with us today. Forgiving from the heart because of love can never be fully explained as a concept; love is best expressed in forgiveness which Jesus showed us on the Cross where his first words were for the forgiveness of his enemies who “knew not what they were doing”.

*Photo by Dean Mon Macatangga, May 2023.*

When we love, we level up in our existence and that becomes most true when we forgive. See how love remains the antidote to sin which is lack of love. Both fraternal correction and forgiving are expressions of love that is true, the love of Christ. That is the point of Christ’s parable when he said, “That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.”

To love, to forgive, to correct those who sin are all in the realms of God, of the divine as Shakespeare said, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” Whenever we forgive because we love like God, we become like him!

Becoming like God, becoming divine happens when we recognize one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Here lies the beautiful twist in the Lord’s parable: forgiving is in the realm of the kingdom of God where we are brothers and sisters, not just servants who owe God our king or anyone with debts to be paid that are measurable in exact amount or quantity. St. Paul expressed it beautifully last Sunday, “Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8).

Love is the only debt we owe everyone. We can never repay love because it is a debt so huge, like the debt of that servant summoned by the king in today’s parable. Jesus came to “save” us from that debt of love that God asks us not because he needs it repaid but because he showers us with so much of that love. We just have to keep on sharing that love of God that is infinite because love is the essence of our lives. To live is to love and when we love, that is when we truly live. And that is why we must forgive also like him. On our own it is impossible to love and to forgive but that grace has always been there for us to take and share because we are all loved and forgiven children of God. To forget or disregard this truth is to separate from God and from everyone which is what hell is all about.

Both teachings and instructions by Jesus to correct our wayward brothers and sisters and to forgive those who often sin against us are expressions of our love of God. Indeed, they are both difficult, most especially forgiving from the heart. Problem with forgiveness is the fact that the most painful hurts we incur are always inflicted by those we love, by those people closest to us and dearest to us. It is a grace we have to pray for always, whether for us who have sinned or hurt by others.

But, there are also practical considerations why we have to forgive as Ben Sirach had noticed since the Old Testament days. It is something we continue to experience these days and sadly, even see on social media like the endless series of road rage everywhere in the world that has become like a pandemic.

How true were the observations by Ben Sirach that “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight” (Sir. 27:30) as clips of road rage vividly show us in social media, from the lack of respect of those involved to abuse of authority as well as destruction of lives and properties. Like the other servants in the parable, we feel sorry for the victims of road rage considering mostly are about petty things blown out of proportions.

*Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Quezon Province, August 2022.*

Psychologists and experts also tell us the importance of forgiving for practical reasons but they all pale in the light of the simple fact that the obligation to avoid resentment, hatred and violence is strictly enjoined on us who know God and are conscious of our own need for his forgiveness and mercy. In the end, let us forgive one another as St. Paul reminded us today in the second reading that everything will be determined and judged in our relationship with Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our sins. This we constantly honor and deepen when we forgive, when we pray the Our Father, and when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!

Healing our community

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of San Roque, Healer, 16 August 2023
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 18:15-20

*Photo by author, view of Israel from Mt. Nebo in Jordan, May 2019.*

God our loving Father,
today we thank you for the gift
of another popular saint among us,
San Roque or St. Rock of France;
he was like Moses, Joshua,
and our Lord Jesus Christ
who primarily worked for the
"healing" of our community,
of your chosen people.

Invoked in time of pestilence
like in the recent pandemic,
San Roque cared and cured many 
sick people infected during a plague
in Italy in the 14th century;
when he caught the disease himself,
he hid in the woods to die so that
others may not be infected through him;
but, in your divine providence, O Lord,
you sent him a dog that licked his wounds
and brought him bread until he was saved 
by its owner until he could finally get home 
to settle the disputes among his relatives 
when an uncle usurped his position
and inheritance from his late father,
the former governor of Montpellier.

Today you remind us, O Lord,
to always care for the unity of
our community that includes our
family, our church, our school even our
office where you call us to gather as one;
like Moses who spent all his life
keeping your chosen people united in you,
may we also work for the common good 
of our designated community.

What a beautiful sight to behold of Moses
seeing the Promised Land from Jordan!
More than our home here on earth,
give us a glimpse of your heavenly
dwelling, dear God, by continuing
your works of leading our community
close to you like Joshua who succeeded Moses.

Teach us to forgive and correct
those who sin and err with humility
and sole concern of being good
and holy like you, O God,
never to put others into shame
nor to look as better than others;
in the name of Jesus Christ your Son,
help us to work for our unity so that
"whenever two or three of us are
gathered in his name, he may truly be
in our midst" (Mt.18:20), 
reflected and mirrored in our community
as we live in justice and mercy,
love and kindness
and holiness.
Amen.

*Photo by author, view of Israel from Mt. Nebo, Jordan, May 2019.*

Facing God again

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, 29 May 2023
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> John 2:1-11

God our loving Father,
as we resume the Ordinary Time
this Monday, grant us the grace
your Son Jesus Christ had given
his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary,
to "face" you again,
to be sincere and true before your
holiness and perfection,
power and might.

How sad that despite
the graces of his Cross
and Resurrection, we remain
too far from you, O God, because
we are still ashamed like Adam and Eve
to "face" you as we constantly turn away from
you in sins.

Remind us how on that
first miracle of Jesus at the
wedding in Cana when Mary
interceded for the newly-wed couple
that they have ran out of wine,
our worthless selves marred with
sins and imperfections like water
have been transformed into beloved
children of the Father,
so beautiful,
so lovely,
so noble 
like an excellent wine.
Amen.

Lent is for sincerity of heart

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent, 14 March 2023
Daniel 3:25, 34-43   >>> + <<<   Matthew 18:21-35

*Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Bgy. Binulusan, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.*

God our Father,
grant me the grace of sincerity
to pray like Azariah whom you
spared from death along with
Shadrach and Meschach in the fiery
furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar;
not even their clothes were singed
by the intense heat that burned to death
their executioners!

Teach me to be sincere
like Azariah who prayed to you while 
walking into the furnace with his
companions, telling you one of the 
most beautiful prayers in the Bible 
we too pray in our Sunday Lauds:

“For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins. We have in our day no prince, no prophets, or leader, no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense, no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord.”
Daniel 3:37-39, 42-43

Yes, dear God,
there is no need,
not even necessary,
for us to do anything
"to win your favor" 
to grant our prayers except
that we be sincere before you,
that is, to be true and humble,
putting ourselves into your hands
completely that you would take care
of us like Azariah and companions.

Many times, O God,
we can't be like you and be
forgiving as a Father to those
who have wronged us because
we ourselves are not true,
lacking sincerity in begging
your mercy and forgiveness;
many times we doubt your
mercy and forgiveness
that often we act like
the unforgiving servant
in Jesus Christ's parable.
Amen.