Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 October 2026 Memorial of St. Callistus, Pope and Martyr Galatians 5:18-25 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 11:42-46
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, March 2024.
Be my everything, Jesus: it is not enough I follow you because along the way, I can still stop and roam around, following my many desires, the restless longings of my heart for selfish interests; teach how to imitate St. Paul in "crucifying my flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24).
But, what is to crucify my flesh with its passions and desires?
Simply let me focus on you alone, Jesus, making you the measure of everything I shall do, to search for you in everyone I meet, to bring you out with everyone I meet; to see more the bigger picture of life by resisting the works of the flesh like "immorarilty, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like" (Galatians 5:19-21).
Keep me aware, Jesus, that as my desires for comfort and ease are bottomless, I shall never be satisfied within if I see more the things than the persons, or give much emphasis on my self than others like the sick and suffering; let me search for the bigger pictures of life's many realities like your plans for eternity so that I may strive more to crucify my flesh with its passions and desires by forgetting my little self I always inflate to look larger than others; may I give the chance for the Holy Spirit to win me over, bearing fruits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). Amen.
Photo by author, Chapel of Our Lady of Ephesus, Bella Rosa Gardens, Silang, Cavite, 07 October 2026.
Lord My Chef SundayRecipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 19 July 2026 Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 ><))))*> Romans 8:26-27 ><))))*> Matthew 13:24-43
Photo by author, Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.
Before reflecting on the second set of parables by Jesus this Sunday, let us take a brief stop at the very short second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans; it is so lovely and we cannot resist reflecting on the word “groaning” by the great Apostle.
Last Sunday, St. Paul said “We know all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now… we also groan within ourselves as we await for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:22,23). And then this Sunday, he spoke again of “groaning”:
Brothers and sister: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27).
To groan or to sigh according to Mr. Webster is a deep, prolonged sound made involuntarily in response to pain, grief or frustration. We have a very picturesque translation of those words in Filipino which is magbuntung-hininga that many of our old folks frowned upon because it is a sign of surrendering, of giving up.
Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo City, 16 June 2026.
Is it bad? Not at all. Even Jesus sighed at the disbelief among the Jews with him (Mk.8:12). To groan, to sigh is to be fully human and even Christian if we go by the line of thought of St. Paul last week and this Sunday.
Groaning for him is the most profound spiritual response to brokenness. That is why I love our Filipino word magbuntung-hininga that evokes an image of digging deep inside – halukayin – for breath to breathe and forge on in life. It is like gulping a handful of air to breathe before taking a plunge or meeting head on a difficult situation in life. It is actually a kind of spirituality, an expression of holiness of surrendering everything to God, of letting go and letting God.
St. Paul spoke of three kinds of groaning: the first two we heard last Sunday, creation groaning and believers groaning as we have cited earlier. Creation groaning means the world is subject to decay while Christians groan inwardly, bearing all pains and hardships in clear hopes of redemption in Christ.
This Sunday, St. Paul spoke anew of “inexpressible groaning”, of sighing because it is too deep for words that the Holy Spirit within us is doing all the expressions of our deepest feelings. It is the one fact of life we often forget when in deep trials and tribulations: that the Holy Spirit is already within us in all our weaknesses. Actually, we do not have to come before God with perfect words, clear thoughts or settled hearts when praying because he knows everything we are going through. Simply be still for God is with us.
And this my friends is the very meaning of Jesus Christ’s second set of parables this Sunday, the weeds among the wheat.
Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well… His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:24-26, 28-30).
We live in an imperfect world, of weeds growing among the wheat. There will always be diseases and sickness, failures and death along with scammers and criminals, liars and idiots, suckers and ungrateful and traitors among us. Add to these all the other woes we have in life like that ongoing war in the Middle East that have kicked up gas prices so high like drones and missiles. Hayyyy…!
And we ask, where is God?
How could God allow all these things to happen like when a poor, hardworking motorcycle taxi rider in Caloocan City trying to make ends meet died after being stabbed with an ice pick then robbed by his passenger still at large?
We wonder as a nation how long do we have to bear all the stupidities and idiosyncrasies of those corrupt, evil people in government even in the church when the majority of us have to suffer at the consequences of their excesses and abuses?
The author of the Book of Wisdom reflected on these realities thousands of years ago and had asked the same questions we ask today. He invites us to prayerfully reflect God’s goodness and kindness:
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins (Wisdom 12:18-19).
Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 21 January 2026.
Despite the weeds – the evil men and women who seem to always prevail – the author of Wisdom in his reflections reminds us to be like God, “the just must be kind.”
It is a very tall order, even difficult but we have to give it a chance because we have seen and proven that many times our human response to the evils and injustices happening end up becoming more brutal like the wars happening right now. Many times, human solutions actually create bigger problems.
That is why all three readings this Sunday tell us to be patient, to dive deeper in prayer where the Holy Spirit enlightens us clearly.
Photo from inquirer.net, Pandacan Church fire, 11 July 2020.
We have seen and experienced in recent years that indeed, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20) like with those two good men in the NBI testifying at the impeachment of the Vice-President or of that most decent lawyer from Cebu, Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan smashing all the lies and grandstanding of her lawyers. Every day we experience grace after grace of deliverance from all dangers through people including strangers who have helped us kindly.
That is why we have to go back to this Sunday’s second reading where St. Paul reminds us that even when we cannot say what is happening within us, the Holy Spirit is praying in us and for us. There are more things happening in us that we have to be thankful with than be sorry or complain about.
Let go of all those negative feelings and thoughts; life is already difficult, don’t make it harder. Instead, may we come to Jesus and learn from him to be patient like God who “gave us good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins” (Wis.12:19).
Let us cultivate our hearts – the field where the seeds are sown that despite the weeds they shall still bear fruit with good works and peace for everyone.
Our classes in the University have begun recently; every time I celebrate Mass with our students, I always remind them these things which I hope may help you too: study hard, work harder, pray hardest.May you have a Holy Spirit-filled week ahead. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 29 October 2025 Wednesday in the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Romans 8:26-30 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Luke 13:22-30
Photo by author, St. Paul Renewal Center, Alfonso, Cavite, August 2019.
Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings (Romans 8:26).
Just like now, dear Jesus, so many things are in my heart, in my mind; there are times I like to pray on things I feel too difficult to express as if too deep for words; even my writing could not work except to feel assuredly of your loving presence, of your warm company; there are people and situations too I just hold in my hands before you because I can't find words to tell you about them... there are times lately I not only forget things and persons but sometimes can't even figure out what's going on in my life that has become like a vast expanse of ocean or field with dark clouds overlapping with lights of the setting sun; O Jesus, you know what's in my heart: just let me feel you, your joy and fullness and life!
“We know all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
If there is one thing
I pray now,
let me know you more,
Jesus so I can love you more
and follow you more
closely; you know everything,
Lord Jesus while I know nothing
at all!
Keep searching my heart
so I may find you
among those I take
for granted,
find you in simple persons
and things that do not
interest me,
most especially
find you in
everyone
in order to find my way
to you!
Amen.
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
Photo by author, Cabo de Roca, Pundaquit, Zambales, 17 May 2025.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 01 September 2025 Monday, Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year I 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 4:16-30
Photo by author, Betania Tagaytay City, August 2018.
Hello, September! Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father for this new month: 30 days of life filled with surprises, 30 days to rejoice in you, 30 days to be better, 30 days to be one in you in Christ your Son our Lord; help us Jesus to imitate St. Paul in helping Christians how your death and resurrection shape our identity and future.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).
"we shall always be with the Lord."
Help me, Jesus to imitate Paul in encouraging one another that "we shall always be with you, Lord" especially when material things and worldly concerns shape my thoughts about the future; lately, I have been so concerned with the moral degradation that has worsened in the country that lately have been shaping my thoughts about the future too; Lord Jesus, help me, forgive me when things of the world shape my thoughts of the future even my identity as your disciple that in the process I fail to recognize your coming your presence in me and among us like your folks in Nazareth; let me feel anew your Spirit in me, Jesus, to let that same Spirit animate me like Paul so I could bring "glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).
Let me share in your paschal mystery, Jesus, to never lose sight of your Cross to find your Resurrection nearby, not the ways of the world that many times worsen our people's plight. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 February 2025
Photo from the Presentation Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.
Every night before going to bed, we priests and religious along with some laypeople pray the Compline or Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. From the Latin completus, the Compline completes the daily prayers of the Church.
It is also my most favorite since our seminary days when we chanted Simeon’s Canticle which we heard proclaimed in yesterday’s gospel in the celebration of the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation.
He (Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:27-32).
A painting of Simeon with the Child Jesus from the dailyprayerblog.blogspot.com
The Simeon Moment is befriending death as we find Jesus Christ.
The “Simeon Moment” is when we are like Simeon in realizing that nothing matters most in this life except God found within us and those closest to us like family and friends whom we would never trade for anybody and anything. It is finding true joy in Christ alone that we are able to befriend death like St. Francis of Assisi who called death a “cousin”.
According to Luke, God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah (Christ). All his life, Simeon prayed and offered sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem awaiting the coming of Christ – and he was not disappointed even if it took so long! That is why, he burst into a song which we now pray every night because that is when we experience in the stillness of the darkness within and outside us that only Jesus and always Jesus who fulfills us.
Those who have cared and lost a loved one to cancer or any terminal illness have experienced that “Simeon Moment”. Remember when our loved ones have finally accepted their fate, when they suddenly become more emotionally stable and even joyful in their dispositions? Unlike before when they were first diagnosed with their illness, they were so afraid, always crying but as they came to embrace the reality, they cried less with a strong sense of courage while we are the ones crying more and most stressed out?
Photo by author, November 2024.
That is because the dying must have seen their their final destination in life, Jesus Christ. Like Simeon during the presentation at the temple after seeing and holding in his hands so close to himself the Holy Infant, we find the dying so calm and peaceful during their final hours because they have seen or were already in the presence of the Lord.
Like Simeon, they were silently joyful in Christ’s presence while we who were left behind cried not only due to the pain and sadness of separation but because we do not know where we are going, where we are heading unlike our departed loved ones.
Feel the courage and confidence of Simeon boldly telling God to “take him” at that instance because he had found Jesus Christ. Its Filipino translation says it so well, “Kunin mo na, Panginoon, ang iyong abang alipin, ayon sa iyong pangako, yamang nakita na ng aking mga mata ang iyong pagliligtas (Lk.2:29-30).”
We Filipinos often take it as a joke, always laughing to dismiss the topic or cope with the reality that to see God literally means to die like when we say “gusto nang makita si Lord”. But, that was how Simeon really felt because he had literally seen the Son of God, as if telling him to take him “now na!” because the Simeon Moment is therefore we have that realization within us that coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life, and vice versa.
Photo from crossroadinitiative.com.
The Simeon Moment is living in the Holy Spirit
Wherever is Jesus Christ, there is always the Holy Spirit. We will never find Christ and have the Simeon Moment unless we are attuned first with Holy Spirit who animates us and opens us to Christ’s coming.
Imagine the great crowds of people at the temple on that day, of couples trying to fulfill the law of Moses of purification and presenting their first-born son to God. How did Simeon know Joseph and Mary were the parents of the Christ? How was he able to accurately spot and find Jesus is the Messiah amid the many male children being offered on that day at the temple?
“To come in the Spirit” like Simeon is more than being faithful to God; it is having a good and pure heart that is ready to believe and act openly with courage, always looking forward at the fulfillment of what we believe. Coming in the Spirit is being at the right place at the right time when we make things happen than wait, exactly how Luke portrayed Simeon and Anna who both lived in the presence of God! Coming in the Spirit is living in the present moment in God.
We cannot see Christ nor live in the Spirit unless we humbly submit ourselves to God, our Lord and Master. Seeing Christ and living in the Spirit presuppose humility before God – we His creatures, He our Lord and Master.
Most of all, our origin and our end too!
It is the principle and foundation of life as St. Ignatius of Loyola stressed in his Spiritual Exercises, “El hombre es criado para alabar, hacer reverencia y servir a Dios nuestro Señor, y mediante esto, salvar su anima”, that is, “Man is created to praise and serve God his Lord and Master and by doing this save his soul”.
There is something so beautiful and lovely, so touching in the opening verse of Simeon’s canticle that underscores firmly this basic truth we have always forgotten since the fall of Adam and Eve when he asked God to take him after seeing the Christ. Every time we sin, we act like Adam and Eve, playing gods, desiring to be like God.
Also known as Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s canticle echoes the fiat of Mary to God during the Annunciation, expressing his fidelity and humility, his total submission to God. Most of all, it summarizes both the Magnificat of the Blessed Mother and the Benedictus of Zechariah, making Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis the finale in Luke’s Christmas “concert” on the birth of the Messiah.
This is the reason why we chant Nunc dimittis at the end of our Night Prayer. It is the perfect prayer to close each day as we prepare for the coming new day to meet Jesus again, hoping we may be enlightened in our life’s mission expressed by the antiphon we recite before and after chanting it, “Protect us Lord as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep rest in his peace”.
Or, if ever we ever do not wake up the following day, we still thank God all the more in making us meet Jesus the past day, eager to finally sing to him our praises in eternity with Night Prayer’s final blessing, “May the Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death”.
The Simeon Moment is a grace and gift Jesus gives us daily not only for the dying but to everyone of us seeking Him, awaiting Him like Simeon. And like Simeon, we are assured that anyone who seeks and awaits God is never disappointed. Have a blessed day in Christ Jesus! Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise bursting through thick fogs over Taal Lake in Bgy. Dayap Itaas, Laurel, Batangas, 17 January 2025.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Twenty-eighth Week of Ordinary Time Year II, 16 October 2024 Galatians 5:18-25 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 11:42-46
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.
Lead and guide us, O Most Holy Spirit; set us free from "the works of the flesh: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions" (Galatians 5:19-20); cleanse our nation now facing the realities of the truth of what we have long suspected of filth and evil that have shrouded the past administration's drug war; so many lives were lost and destroyed not only by the deaths but all the lies that were glorified; be the courage and strength, O Holy Spirit, of those finally given the chance to stand for what is true so that never again such reign of darkness and terror be repeated.
Woe to us and everyone who continue to overlook the good of others!
Let your Spirit, dear Jesus, bear fruit in us with "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23); fills us with your Spirit today, Jesus, so we may be more loving, thinking always of the good of others above all. Amen.
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. John XXIII, Pope, 11 October 2024 Galatians 3:7-14 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 11:15-26
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your Holy Spirit, enliven my faith, hope and love in You; in this age of so many divisions when we are being pulled by the strong forces of the past to go back to what was before due to the excesses of modern time, let us look for your Cross, O Lord, to let the "finger of God" work in us to cleanse us of all evil and filth that make us "scatter" than "gather".
“But if is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you… Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first” (Luke 11:20, 23-26).
Let us realize, like what St. Paul tells us in today's first reading that we who "have faith in You are the children of Abraham, that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:7, 14).
Let us embrace that truth, Jesus, that You have done everything for our salvation, for our freedom, for our being children of the Father; You have cleansed us, come fill us with your Spirit for us to see our similarities not differences to build a more humane society here on earth; fill us with your Spirit, Jesus, let not the bonds and shackles of sin hold us, isolated from others, always competing that prevent peace in finally happening.
Help us imitate your faithful servant St. John XXIII who convened the Second Vatican Council to open the windows of the Church and welcome this modern age so we may find You Jesus ever more present in this changing time; most of all, to share You, Jesus who is still most needed in this troubled age.
You have done everything for us, Jesus. Let us rest on that by remaining in You, doing your work and make us stop playing god, savior of the world. Amen.
Photo by Ka Ruben, new stained glass of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City to be blessed on Sunday, the 107th anniversary of the last Apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal.
The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Pentecost Sunday-B, 19 May 2024 Acts 2:1-11 ><]]]]'> Galatians 5:16-25 ><]]]]'> John 15:26-27, 16:12-15
Illustration from istockphoto.com.
Blessed happy birthday to everyone this Pentecost Sunday, the “birthday” or official coming out party of the Church! In the Ascension of Jesus last Sunday, we have an upward movement that was a “leveling up” in our relationships with God and one another, calling us to be light to rise.
Today’s Pentecost Sunday is opposite, a downward move that “presses” us to “spread” like in compressing a sandwich to make it wider or bigger, calling us to be small and be “dissolved” so we can be mixed or shared with others.
Sorry for sounding a recipe but that’s how we are all as the kingdom of God here on earth – the Body of Christ we His disciples make up as the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit whose very image is us.
When time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire hose in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Acts 2:1-4
Pentecost is not just an event in the past but a daily reality calling us to be “dissolved” in ourselves, to be little and small so that we can be one with others to be united in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Being a Christian is being united, being one in Jesus; remove “Christ” in the word Christian, we are left with the letters -ian that stand for “I-am-nothing”.
That is why we as the Church is the image or icon of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity promised by Jesus to come after His ascension. It is the principle of unity in the Trinity because the Holy Spirit is the love that exists between the Father and the Son. This union between the Father and the Son happens also among us, the community of believers despite our diversities and differences when we allow the Holy Spirit to empower us in our daily dying to ourselves that Jesus likened to the grain of wheat that falls to the ground in order to grow and yield bountiful harvest (Jn. 12:24-26). This is the reason why St. Paul calls us to live in the Spirit in the second reading:
I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want… Now those who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another.
Galatians 5:16-17, 24-26
Jesus is inviting us today to go through daily Pentecost by allowing the Holy Spirit to “burn” us with its fire, to dissolve our old selves to become new in Him. It is a process of conversion, of daily dying in our flesh in order to build up His Church.
Here we go back to one of the central theme of Jesus of becoming like a child, becoming small which is true greatness because that is when we no longer live but Christ in us as St. Paul experienced. Today he tells us some of the works of our old self we must turn away from like “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like” (Gal. 5:19-21).
See how all his examples lead to disunity and divisions instead of unity that is happening today. Some people call for inclusivity but the opposite happens as we get divided so sharply that anyone who opposes them is accused of “gaslighting” or worst, end up being “cancelled”! So sad that some people are exaggeratingtruth when in fact they are exaggerating themselves as new standards of truth, insisting themselves and their beliefs on us.
Why change the rules of grammar or beauty pageants or genders just because they are different? Worst, they want to change even religious feasts like Santacruzan or the praying of the Our Father! Where is the unity in diversity if there is one group insisting on themselves? What happens is a repeat of the Tower of Babel, not of the Pentecost.
Losing ourselves in the Holy Spirit does not hinder our search for truth. The Holy Spirit actually leads us to the whole truth of Jesus revealed in His coming but He is too big to be grasped wholly that He continues to unfold, telling us we can only arrive at truth when we think in Him, with Him, and through Him in the Holy Spirit.
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak wht he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:12-15
The key here is being small, being dissolved in the Holy Spirit to see the larger whole who is Jesus Christ found in the face of every person next to us. See how we find in the first reading the reality of the Church starting out big right away as “catholic” or universal when it began on Pentecost speaking all the languages of the world, uniting the peoples as one in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Stained glass of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove as background of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican in Rome; photo from wikipedia.
The Church never started small like a club spreading into federations to become one. We become a part of that big reality of the Church in Christ by becoming small, by being dissolved by the fire of the Holy Spirit by letting go of our selfish selves.
The Holy Spirit continues to come down to us in daily Pentecost explaining and revealing to us the truth of Jesus through the many events iand persons in our lives. When my mother was still alive, she was the only reason why I came home; but, after she had left us peacefully last week, I have realized I still have to come home for my family and relatives and friends. It is a process of dying in myself amid the pain of seeing her room empty, that she is gone.
Death, like the ascension of Jesus is not about replacing those who have left us but a Pentecost, of allowing the Spirit to come to make us smaller, to be one with those still with us to continue celebrating life. That is when we experience the “fruit of Spirit” like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). When that happens, then we have the Church as well as our own family as an image and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, make us aware of the coming of the Holy Spirit to us in our daily Pentecost; keep us open and humble, dissolve our selfishness, our pride, our "flesh" so that we may live in the Holy Spirit as the Church, its very image here on earth. Amen. Have a Spirit-filled week ahead!
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 I, 27 October 2023
Romans 7:18-25 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 12:54-59
Photo by author, Camp John Hay, Baguio City, 12 July 2023.
God our loving Father,
help us to live spiritually
in this material world,
to live always rooted in you,
our life and our being;
like St. Paul, we find ourselves
always in the same dilemma,
"For I do not do the good I want,
but I do the evil I do not want"
(Romans 7:19).
So true are the words
of the wise that
"we are not human beings
having a spiritual experience;
we are spiritual beings
having a human experience"
for you have made us for you
and eternity, O God,
not for this world that is
temporary and passing;
Jesus Christ came to
show us and make us experience
this reality of our spiritual being
and yet, we keep on insisting
on mastering the material world,
destroying its unity in you,
separating everything
and dividing our hearts within.
Let us take your side, O Lord,
send us the Holy Spirit
to enlighten our minds
and our hearts to discern
your holy will always;
may we learn to be silent
and still, to trust in you,
to feel you in ourselves
and in others
so we may live spiritually
and meaningfully.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday after the Ascension, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious, 22 May 2023
Acts 19:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 16:29-33
Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.
Thank you dear Jesus
for conquering the world for us
(John 16:33) in your Passion,
Death and Resurrection;
Your gift of the Holy Spirit
affirms each day in us your
conquest of the world.
Forgive us, dear Lord,
when so many times we refuse
to let your Holy Spirit
operate and work in us;
so many times we take your
Holy Spirit for granted
that we are easily
attracted and swayed by others
to leave our Catholic faith
when we see "the light" in other
Christian sects and other
modern beliefs.
Remind us, O Jesus,
that to live in the Holy Spirit
and conquer the world is to nurture
its dwelling in us in prayers and the
sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist
which animates and empowers us to come
in close contact with other faithful to form
your Body, your community of disciples;
Help us, O Christ,
to renew our commitment in Baptism
to proclaim your good news of salvation
in the context of a community of disciples
united and led by the Holy Spirit.
Like St. Rita de Cascia
whose memorial we celebrate today,
give us the courage to
affirm your victory in the world
by being more firm in our stance
for what is right and good,
fair and just and true
in the spirit of a community
and oneness.
Amen.
