Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 July 2026
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; 38:10-12, 16 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 12:1-8
God our loving Father,
I thank you for this wonderful
Friday and most of all,
for your moving words
from King Hezekiah,
the very same words
in our hearts especially
for those like me who have
reached senior year,
or may be going through
many difficulties in life
that make us all realize
our mortality
and finiteness.
Father,
we are all afraid of death,
of dying,
of the pain of getting sick,
of the process so hurtful
in all aspects; but, like
King Hezekiah in the first reading,
what really makes us worry
with death is the unfinished work
you have given us,
the sadness of what shall
happen to those we shall leave behind
not because we believe so much
in ourselves but more because
we know we have not finished
your work; forgive us for those
moments we have procrastinated
your work, for those times we
balked and dilly dallied to your
commands, or to those times
we refused to follow you;
hear our pleas like your
faithful King Hezekiah
knocking at heaven’s door:
Once I said: “In the noontime of life I must depart! To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned for the rest of my years… Like a swallow I utter shrill cries; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak, gazing heavenward: O Lord, I am in straits; be my surety” (Isaiah 38:10, 14).
O Lord our God
most loving,
our life and meaning
who desires most mercy
than sacrifice for
you are the Lord of sabbath
(Matthew 12:7-8),
like King Hezekiah and
Bob Dylan in this modern time
we "knock at heaven's
door" for those in great need
at these very moment
like the disciples of Jesus
so hungry while crossing a field
of grain on a sabbath
and picked the heads of grain
and ate them; heal those so sick
not only in body but also in mind,
heart and soul;
ease their pains and sorrows;
and should we reach the final end,
welcome us into your heavenly
kingdom; but still, as we
hope against hope,
heal us by turning back
the clock of time
for us to fulfill your
assigned task and
mission.
Amen.
*While praying last night, we remembered Bob Dylan’s iconic “Knocking At Heaven’s Door” that he wrote as soundtrack of the 1973 film “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid”. It became a worldwide hit after its release and had been covered by other artists like Eric Clapton, Randy Crawford and Guns N’ Roses.
“Knocking At Heaven’s Door” is praying hard to God when at the point of death. Like Hezekiah in the first reading, it is the baring of one’s soul to God, begging for his mercy that if possible be allowed to live a little longer. In this song, we find the lyrics and music elegantly and nobly simple, so characteristic of Dylan’s songs that earned him awards outside the music circle like journalism’s Pulitzer Prize special citation in 2008 and the recent Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American music tradition” (wikipedia).
In our prayer last night, we realized as we age that we fear death and its other daily manifestations like separation and other lifestyle shifts because of being sorry for not having done much in life that if given another chance, we might after all finish our mission like King Hezekiah in the first reading today. Knocking at heaven’s door is one of life’s most powerful prayer as it always “moves” God in the sense he grants our prayers not because he changes his mind but because we have finally surrendered to him and his Divine Will. Likewise, it reminds us to be faithful to our calling always so that when God calls us to death, we can let go easily.
Bob Dylan captured this so well citing the final scene of the movie for which he composed “Knocking At Heaven’s Door” when the frontier lawman was about to die, he gave or “surrendered” to his wife – Mama – his badge and gun because he had finished his job.
[Intro]
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
[Verse 1]
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s getting dark, too dark to see
I feel I’m knockin' on heaven’s door
[Chorus]
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
[Verse 2]
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is coming down
I feel I’m knockin' on heaven’s door
[Chorus]
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
A blessed weekend everyone. Handle life with prayer always.
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