Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 03 October 2025
Friday in the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Baruch 1:15-22     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Luke 10:13-16

Your words today
O Lord remind me so well
of Bob Dylan's classic song
"Blowing In the Wind":

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

I could feel your
exasperation, Jesus
in your words,
"Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida!
For if the mighty deeds done 
in your midst had been done 
in Tyre and Sidon, 
they would long ago 
have repented,
sitting in sackcloth
and ashes" (Luke 10:13);
many times,
I feel the same like you,
Lord: we have become so numb
and callous of each other,
even indifferent to what is
going on.

On the other hand,
how I wish we all feel like Baruch 
during the Babylonian captivity
"flushed with shame"
for all their sins against God,
not heeding his voice
as they "went off after 
devices of their own 
wicked hearts,
served other gods,
and did evil in the 
sight of the Lord"
(Baruch 1:15, 22);
Lord Jesus,
bring back our
sense of sin
as individuals
and as a people
for us to realize
how all this mess
of corruption in government
is the sum of our 
personal sins
of not heeding your voice
especially in choosing
our leaders. 

Have mercy on us,
Lord Jesus!
Bring back our sense
of sin for us to be 
"flushed with shame" too
like your exiles;
awaken us from our
indifference and numbness
to all the corruption and sin
happening in our country;
we have trapped ourselves
in our own abyss of miseries 
as we remain divided,
seeking to follow people 
than you, O Lord Jesus
who is the truth,
the way and the life.
With all the calamities
and corruption happening
among us,
let us rise and stand
by your side, Jesus -
upholding what is true,
what is good,
and what is just.
Have mercy on us
your people, Jesus
especially the little ones
long been abused 
by the powerful
and suffer most 
in calamities.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)