The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2022
Galatians 3:7-14 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 11:15-26
Photo by author, April 2022.
God our loving Father,
thank you in making us
experience your saving power
in the most unusual manner;
the imagery is most unique
like when Jesus used again
that Old Testament expression
"finger of God":
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, the the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
Luke 11:20
How lovely is that imagery of
"finger of God" as the power of
God to drive out demons; the
only other instances "finger of
God" was used were in the
Book of Exodus when the
Pharaoh's magicians admitted
the plagues were the works of
"the finger of God" and secondly
to describe how the Ten Commandments
were written by the "finger of God"
on two tablets of stone;
and now, Jesus described
his driving away of a demon
from a possessed man as work
of the "finger of God".
In all instances, O God,
your power so great is so
unlike of what we know
of worldly power that is
threatening and menacing;
was it coincidental, dear God,
that the most powerful prayer
instrument we now have is the
Holy Rosary that is literally found
on our fingers too?
As we pray the Rosary with our
lips and fingers, suffuse us
with your power that loves and
heals, forgives and cares;
may we "imitate" what the
mysteries of the Rosary "contain"
by following Jesus like Mary
in all his joys and sufferings,
glory and light.
Like during the time of Christ,
we are being attacked in all fronts
by many detractors who refuse
to acknowledge the Holy Rosary is
a Christocentric prayer that contemplates
the life of Jesus our Savior
through the face of Mary his Mother;
as we meditate the life of Christ
through the Rosary beads
with our fingers,
let us experience
your great power anew,
your power to love
and care especially
the sick and suffering,
the lost and forgotten
so that in the end,
may your power
triumph over the
evils of the world
expressed in dominance
and manipulations,
lies and character
assassinations,
and disrespect for
life and persons.
Amen.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary,
Pray for us!
Photo from canningliturgicalarts.com, painting of the Battle of Lepanto Bay with our Lady of Victory or Rosary.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2021
Acts 1:12-14 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Luke 1:26-28
Photo from canningliturgicalarts.com.
This feast of the Holy Rosary has its origin in the victory of Christian forces against the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Lepanto Bay in 1571 that decisively stopped the Moslems from occupying Europe. The first Dominican Pope, St. Pius V attributed that victory to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. Popularity and devotion to the Rosary eventually grew and spread when subsequent other victories in various parts of the world, including the Philippines’ La Naval were attributed to our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
In our gospel today, we find the key behind every victory attributed to the praying of the Holy Rosary: it is when we “lose” that we actually “win”! After explaining to her the plan of God, Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed her (Lk.1:38). In a sense, Mary was a loser— she “lost” herself to God and eventually became an instrument for our victory in the salvation through her Son Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself was crucified, another “loser” in a sense but truly a victor because in dying on the cross, Jesus Christ resurrected on the third day and won over death and sin.
Sometimes it can happen we feel at a loss, when we have lost in some battles in life when later on, we find out we have actually won.
Some may have been bullied while in school. Or, sometimes we fail an exam or flunk a semester but eventually we graduated, now have a career, a wonderful family.
In business, sometimes investors and entrepreneurs may go bankrupt before hitting gold.
That’s how it is with life. Win or lose, in the end, it is always a win. Especially when we in God.
When we choose to be like Mary, to submit ourselves to the will and plans of God, we must be ready to endure so many sufferings and hardships in life that sometimes we feel like we are at the losing end. When we try to be patient, when we try to understand, when we forgive, when we bear all the pains because we love, that is when we win as we lose ourselves and begins to be filled with Christ Jesus like Mary in the gospel.
True, a lot often we lose so many battles when we try to stand for what is true and good but in the end, we actually win the war against evil. That is the greatest victory Christ had gifted us, first His Mother Mary: salvation. Hence, we find in Marian prayers and hymns the requests for the Blessed Mother’s prayer for us sinners to be saved from hell and be brought to her Son Jesus Christ in eternity. That’s the final victory we all hope for in praying and living out the Holy Rosary with Mary.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2021
Malachi 3:13-20 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 11:5-13
Photo by author, December 2020.
Glory and thanksgiving
to you God our loving Father
in fulfilling to us your promise
to the Prophet Malachi in
sending us Jesus Christ, our Light
of healing and wholeness born
by the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Malachi 3:20
But, still, times and people have
not truly changed that much since the time
of Malachi as many of us are easily tempted
to seek the easier way to the good life
through evil and sins; many of us choose
to simply pay lip service to calls of faith,
going through external religious observances,
and worst of all, still refuse to pray and
reach out to be one with you, O God.
Teach us to rediscover prayer through
the beauty and efficacy of the Holy Rosary
of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has guided
nations and history for almost 2000 years,
enabling us to contemplate the face of Jesus
your Son through Mary his Mother.
Yes, it is a Marian prayer method but
strongly Christ-centered because it is
Mary who truly knows Jesus so well
that through her Holy Rosary, we are able
to enter into the Lord's very life expressed
in its Mysteries that hopefully help us to
become like him through Mary.
Most of all, open our eyes
to the wonder and joy of praying,
of coming to you, loving Father,
that is pure grace from the Holy Spirit
who enables us to call you in
Jesus Christ your Son; in the Rosary,
"we plead to you with Mary, the
sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, interceding
for us before you Father who filled her
with grace and before the Son born
of her womb, praying with us and
for us" (St. John Paul II, Rosarium
Virginis Maria, #16).
“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 will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Luke 11:9-13
On this day of remembering
the intercession of our Lady of the
Holy Rosary at the Battle of Lepanto Bay,
we praise and thank you Father
for this unique grace of praying
to be like Jesus Christ your Son
victorious over sin and evil at his Cross
where he gave us his Mother Mary
to be our teacher in following and
imitating him our Lord and Master.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 17 October 2020
Bishop Dennis Villarojo of the Diocese of Malolos leading the praying of the Rosary during the 11th Healing Rosary for the World last May 27, 2020 at the Malolos Cathedral. Photo from Sandigan.
It is the world’s most powerful weapon in any war, the most potent medicine for any ailment but has always been shunned upon by many especially in this age of sophisticated technology and modern science.
This is the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so loved by most saints in the past 800 years, encouraged by the Mother Church, and now rediscovered by many in this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
How prophetic were the words of St. John Paul II in October 16, 2002 when he declared it as “Year of the Rosary” by adding the Luminous Mysteries prayed on Thursdays.
The Rosary of the Virgin Mary… still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to “set out into the deep” (duc in altum!) in order once more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour, “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), “the goal of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization turn”.
St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Introduction
It is very interesting to know that the celebration of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was instituted following the victory by the Spanish Armada over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto Bay on October 07, 1571. That decisive naval victory attributed to the praying of the Rosary ended the push towards Europe by the powerful Moslem Ottomans. That would be repeated less than a hundred years later at Manila Bay in 1646 when the Protestant Dutch navy retreated unable to break the defenses of the combined Spanish and Filipino forces who placed themselves under the patronage of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Following their victory at the La Naval de Manila, the surviving soldiers walked barefoot to the Santo Domingo Church then in Intramuros.
There are so many other stories of how devotion to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary have led to many kinds of victories in various battles – not only in wars but also in plagues and diseases and other crises – waged by Christians both as a nation and as individuals not because the Blessed Virgin Mary is a “fighter” like a warrior but more of a woman of peace, a disciple par excellence of Jesus Christ.
The family that prays together,
stays together;
a world at prayer is a world at peace.
- Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton
Image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary whose feast we celebrate every third Saturday of October at Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan.
What makes Our Lady of the Holy Rosary so unique in fighting all kinds of battle in life is the path she takes, the path of Jesus Christ which is the path of peace. Here we find how though the Rosary is Marian in character, it is in essence Christocentric.
…to rediscover the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ who “is our peace”, since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14).
St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #6
Jesus had told us that the peace he gives us is not like the peace of the world but a peace that is won out of love, not of violence and power. Mary as Mother of Jesus offers us the most intimate and incomparable model in contemplating Christ the Prince of Peace, his very person, his words and teachings that leads into inner peace within each person first.
And that is what every mystery of the Rosary teaches us: we remember not just by going back to the past but by making present anew Jesus Christ in the many events of his life relevant with us today because they are very similar with our own experiences.
When we contemplate the Joyful Mysteries, we realize that real joy comes from welcoming and accepting, sharing and finding Jesus who comes to us in the most ordinary ways. In the Sorrowful Mysteries, we find in whatever suffering we find ourselves into, Jesus Christ went through it all first for us, assuring us he continues to be with us even in death that leads us to the Glorious Mysteries of Easter. In these mysteries that end with the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth, we are reminded and assured of our only “destiny” in life — to be back in the presence of God in heaven with Mary.
Mary in the Holy Rosary reveals to us that our fulfillment in life is found only in her Son Jesus Christ, the light of the world in whom everything must be seen and considered. All the rough edges, the dullness and darkness within us are dispelled when seen in the light of Jesus Christ. And that is why we find in the Luminous Mysteries the most “scriptural” part of the Rosary. According to St. John Paul II, though the gospels were silent about the presence of Mary in these Luminous Mysteries, it is most likely she was there present in silence, something so rare these days as we live our lives in the glitz and glamour of social media like Facebook and Instagram.
Photo by author, 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most unique battle man has ever fought, not only because the enemy is not seen and have made such visibly tremendous impact to our way of life in a global scale like World War II; it happened in the most unusual way that attacked and disturbed our inmost being as human persons desiring peace right in our hearts.
It exposed the sickness we have all been afflicted with, the lack of love, a love that is like the love of Jesus Christ willing to sacrifice, willing to forgive, willing to let go simply because of loving someone more than one’s self.
We have been in chaos within, longing for peace and love that have remained elusive because we have always been busy with everything except with God and our true selves. Long before we have adopted social distancing, we have long been distant from each other, even with those we live with in our homes – so cold and without love. Meals have become needs to feed one’s body, not as events to share one’s self with others as more and more people are getting used to eating by themselves, with cellphones beside them. Everybody is complaining about the face masks and face shields we have to wear without realizing when was the last time we really had a good look at each one’s face as a brother and a sister in Christ, an image and likeness of God, a person to be loved and cherished?
In praying the Rosary meditating in silence its mysteries, we not only discover the mystery of God but most of all our own mystery of being a part of his grand design and plan. That is why we feel anxious and fearful all of a sudden because death has become truer and closest to us in this time of the pandemic when “resting in peace” has become so common. And we know so well we have not loved enough!
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from wikidata.org.
By praying the Rosary, its beads make us enter the rhythm of life once again, that it is not just temporal and material but also eternal and spiritual. With Mary, the Rosary enables us to be conformed to Christ which is the very essence of Christian spirituality.
In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation – in Mary’s company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ’s life and as it were to share his deepest feelings.
The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary’s side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (cf. Gal 4:19). Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!
St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, #15
I have been wondering why despite our many prayers and Masses, why have we not conquered COVID-19 yet? How many rosaries do we have to pray before God answers our prayers for a cure to corona virus?
Perhaps, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is reminding us today that the problem with COVID-19 is not just medical but deeply spiritual, calling us to be conformed in the person of Jesus Christ that calls for many battles within us against our pride, selfishness, painful past and memories, vices and addictions, so many other negativities that please our senses but leave us empty and lost because they all lack love from which peace springs forth.
Take that Rosary again, learn from Mary that true blessedness is in believing that the words of God will be fulfilled (Lk.1:45) in us by welcoming Jesus, sharing Jesus, and becoming like Jesus in love like his Mother. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog
Wednesday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, 07 October 2020
Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14 >><)))*> >><)))*> >><)))*> Luke 11:1-4
From Google.
Today, O God our Father, as we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, we hear one of the most beautiful requests from your Son Jesus Christ. Who else can teach us so well how to pray but him, the Son of God?
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.”
Luke 11:1-2
In calling you “Our Father”, Jesus had taught us the basic truth and reality of every prayer that it is never alone nor solitary but always implies a community, a family — that we are all called and gathered to be one in you, O God.
And in giving us his own Mother to be our Mother too, Mary became our constant reminder of the importance and need to pray always to you God our Father, coming to us in our darkest moments like at the Battle of Lepanto Bay more than 400 years ago today.
By praying the Holy Rosary, may we learn through Mary to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ so we may be faithful to our call and mission specially in this 24/7 world of continuous action and noise that have left many of us empty and without meaning in life.
Photo by Fr. Gerry Pascual (Diocese of Iba, Zambales), Our Lady of the Rosary at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC, 2018.
The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk2:7).
St. John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002), paragraph 10
Through her intercession, may we all be like St. Paul “on the right road in line with the truth of the Gospel” (Gal. 2:14). Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 Oktubre 2019
Larawan ay kuha ni Rdo. P. Gerry Pascual sa Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, 09 Setyembre 2017 .
Maraming salamat, mahal naming Ina, Birheng Maria sa iyong pagsama sa amin tuwina ngayong inaala-ala iyong himala sa pakikipag-digma ng mga Kastila sa Look ng Lepanto dinarasal iyong Santo Rosario.
Kay sarap namnamin damang-dama namin sa bawat butil ng Rosario pakikiisa mo sa amin upang higit naming sundin butihin mong anak at Panginoon namin na siyang kapanatilihan ng Diyos sa piling amin.
Dahil kay Kristo Hesus na isinilang mo sa amin, Panginoong Diyos naging kapiling namin palaging dumarating maging sa gitna ng mga unos at sigwa nitong karagatan ng buhay namin tumatawag para kami ay sagipin.
Mula sa panganib ng karagatan at latian hanggang sa katihan kailanman ay hindi kami iniwan ni Kristo Hesus na iyong isinilang upang kami ay pangunahan pabalik sa aming tahanan doon sa kalangitan ikaw ngayon nakapisan.
Maraming salamat Mahal naming Ina Birheng Maria nawa amin kang matularan si Hesus ay masundan sa nakakatakot na karagatan at kapanatagan ng kapatagan kanyang mukha sa ami'y mabanaagan kami rin mismo maging misteryo ng iyong Santo Rosario.
Monday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2019
Jonah 1:1-2:1-2.11 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 10:25-37
Part of a painting in a church in Seville, Spain depicting the Battle of Lepanto Bay won through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary. From Google.
O God our loving Father, as we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, you have assured us again through the readings of today of your abiding love and presence among us.
In the first reading, you remind us how you continue to call us and send us to many missions and tasks in life even if we often doubt and refuse to follow you like Jonas.
Sometimes, we have to wait for the storms to hit us in this sea of life before we can realize that indeed, you are calling us, that you do believe in us to entrust us with specific tasks and mission in life.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, Batanes, 2018.
And yet, in the many turbulence in this sea of life we are into, you never fail to save us and assure us of your love and mercy like at the Battle of Lepanto Bay in 1571 when the Holy League of Christians crushed the much feared and powerful navy of the Ottoman Turks.
Thank you in giving us the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother too to calm our many fears while in the high seas of life.
On the other hand, you dare to challenge us dear God to find you and share you among the most needy of this long and perilous road of life in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
From Google.
So often, we refuse to leave the security and comfort of our lives than cross the road to reach out to those in the margins left to die in sickness, hunger, and pain- alone.
Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, may our eyes be opened, our faith be deepened to find and serve you Lord and Master in the storms of the high seas and in the security of the roads ahead us. Amen.
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