Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 30 January 2026 2 Samuel 11:1-4, 5-10, 13-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 4:26-34
Photo by author, Museo Valenzuela & the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Valenzuela City, 21 January 2026.
Thank you Lord Jesus for the Friday break, the penultimate day of this month of January 2026; it was a heavy week and a very long month for most of us we thought would never end.
We are thankful Lord today because we are still with you with many of us struggling in our prayer lives, persevering in being good and everything like being king and understanding and forgiving; indeed, like your parable today, everything good begins so small like the seed scattered in the field that sprout and grow while the farmer sleeps and rises night and day without really knowing how; but that is how it is also with sin and evil that always begins so small, so subtle like in the experience of David in the first reading: he had been complacent in his life falling into temptations of lust that led into murder.
Dear Jesus, remind us always to never take little things for granted - whether small deeds that lead to holiness or small sins that may leave us stuck in a moment we can't get out of according to Bono of U2:
You've got to get yourself together You've got stuck in a moment And now you can't get out of it Don't say that later will be better Now you're stuck in a moment And you can't get out of it
We pray, Lord Jesus for those feeling stuck in a moment or a sin or a vice or a relationship that they can't get out of; give them the courage to quit and return to you, even little by little. Amen.
*I know what you are thinking but this is a good piece from U2's 2000 album "All That You Can't Leave Behind"... it might help you pray better.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 27 January 2026 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19 <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*> Mark 3:31-35
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, August 2017.
Your words today are very interesting, God our loving Father: both the first reading and the gospel show us a setting of people gathered, inside and outside a circle of crowd; but, what makes it so interesting is the fact that more than the location of being "inside" and "outside" in any setting especially in gathering and in coming to you, what truly matters most is our action, of what are we doing because many times, we may be "inside" without doing your will while be "outside" doing your will.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside for you.” But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:31-35).
Thank you dear Jesus for coming to us, bringing us closer to you, to God our Father, and most especially with everyone; how sad at times when we are seated right in your circle yet too far from you and others because we are away from your will, from your very self, from your works; it does not really matter wherever we are seated but where we stand in you and with you in doing the will of God.
Teach us to imitate King David who rejoiced triumphantly in the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant where he was closest to God's presence not because of the Ark but most because of his care for the people around to whom "he distributed to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel, a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raising cake" (2Samuel 6:19).
Let us come to you, in you, and through you, dear Jesus in holy communion welcoming everyone with our loving service so that no one may feel far and outside from you and one another. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 25 January 2026 Isaiah 8:23-9:3 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 1:10-13.17 ><}}}}*> Matthew 4:12-23
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2019.
More than a month ago at the Midnight Mass of Christmas we have heard this Sunday’s first reading, that beautiful prophecy by Isaiah fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s coming.
First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of Jordan, the district of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone (Isaiah 8:23-9:1).
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled… (Matthew 4:12-14).
As we move forward into Ordinary Time, we hear anew one of the most beautiful promises in the Old Testament of how the coming of the Christ is the “breaking of dawn of salvation” as Zechariah sang in his Benedictus after naming his son “John” when light bursts forth to dispel the darkness that had enveloped us for a long time.
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.
Notice that it is those who live and walk in darkness literally and figuratively speaking are always the first to come forward into the light like the people in Galilee at that time, especially the towns of Zebulun and Naphtali who were actually names of Jacob’s two other sons. Their tribes settled in that area of Galilee that was at the border with other pagan countries always subjected to wars and conflicts with foreigners. Their lands were literally in the dark, never at peace as if forsaken.
Here lies the good news of this Sunday: after hearing the news of John’s arrest, Jesus launched his public ministry. Notice how plain and simple was Matthew’s narration, “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested” – it was another period of darkness for the people with rampant violence and injustice. However, it was not totally dark at all: see how Jesus withdrew to Galilee; Christ’s “withdrawing” to Galilee was not something negative but actually more of a positive development. Jesus chose to begin his ministry in that forsaken province of Galilee to show his love and concern for the people long forgotten. Remember how at that time that Jerusalem was the center of everything, something like an “imperial Manila” we call these days.
Here we find again that imagery of Jesus like in his birth that happened during the darkest night of the year that 30 years later, he chose to go to the darkest region of Israel to bring light of salvation to everyone. Jesus comes to us most in moment of darkness in our lives! When we are troubled by sins and problems, never lose that spark within for Christ had come, is coming and continues to come to us! Matthew mentioned this prophecy of Isaiah of the great light shining in the land of gloom not really for his readers then and now to remember what God had done in the past but to make us all aware always that God continues to send us his Son Jesus in these dark moments of our lives. In telling us how Jesus began his ministry by withdrawing to Galilee in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, Matthew wants us to be aware of what God has done for us, of giving us Jesus, the true Light of the world right into the many darkness we are going through in life today.
More than the news overseas that we have heard like wars and the breaking apart of world peace and order with America suddenly flexing its muscles to remind everyone they are still great and powerful or the very frustrating corrupt lawmakers of the country, we are all in some form of being in the midst of darkness in our personal lives too like a sick loved one or a problematic brother or sister.
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 08 January 2026.
God has delivered us from slaveries of sin and selfishness in Christ’s coming and presence among us. Surely there would always be darkness and shadows in our lives this 2026 but Jesus is telling us today in his withdrawing to Galilee after hearing John’s arrest that we need to get out of our own darkness! There is no more darkness in Christ’s coming; it is us who have darkened our lives with our selfish interests like the quarrels and animosities against one another that St. Paul warned against in the second reading.
Every time we destroy our unity, our oneness, we plunge ourselves into darkness. Whenever we refuse to bow down, when we refuse to give way, when we refuse to forgive even forgo or let go of others inanities, we go back to darkness. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ is the great light who shone on the many darkness of our lives, he is calling us like the first four disciples to bring his light to others.
Was it really that easy for the brothers Simon and Andrew, especially brothers James and John to immediately leave behind their livelihood and father so easily for Jesus? Not really. Matthew need not go into details about their call and conversion because most likely, they went through the same stages we have gone through or going through right now as we pray and reflect about our life direction. Like us today, Simon and Andrew, James and John experienced burn out, searching for meaning in life that after listening to the words of Jesus, they felt and saw him as the light enlightening everything for them. They saw in Jesus their lives and very person getting clearer that they decided to follow him and become fishers of men.
How far are we willing to repent and be converted in the light of Christ to start anew living in the land of loving God, self, and others?
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, 19 April 2022.
I have always loved sunrise. Though sunsets are more colorful and dramatic like a spectacular show called palabas in Filipino, sunrise is different: it is more of paloob, an inside movement that is subtle yet intense when light steals into shadows as the sun is gradually breaking open the darkness to reveal what is unseen.
That is why our Filipino term for sunrise is more evocative of its deeper meaning as pagbubukang liwayway which literally means breaking of dawn. Every morning person (madrugeño in Spanish) knows so well those feelings of being up before sunrise, of exactly catching the breaking of dawn that is always joyful and liberating with a certain kind of lightness and relief from deep within because another day is given us.
Maybe it is a carry over with my having worked for three years in the graveyard shift covering the police beat while still working at GMA News in the late 1980’s. But more recently, I feel that imagery of coming forward into the light resonates most after a good confession when we deeply realize God’s immense love, that God is not that really angry at all with us because of our sins, that there is a bright light to always look forward in this life amid all the darkness and shadows enveloping us.
Today is the National Bible Sunday. It is when we prayerfully read the Sacred Scriptures everyday that we see the light of Christ in our selves, in our lives. The more we pray the Scriptures, the more we are enlightened, the more we are filled with the light of Christ that enables us to see too his light on the face of those we meet daily. Let us step out of our darkness in life this Sunday and everyday to henceforth experience and share Christ. Amen. Have a blessed, enlightening week ahead!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 23 January 2026 1 Samuel 24:3-21 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 3:13-19
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
In this time of too much violence not only in media but in real life especially those we witness and experience in ordinary streets near and far from our places of comfort to those larger than life violence taking place in the high seas and other countries, may your words today remind us, our dear loving Father to imitate David your servant of old.
David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked back, David bowed to the ground in homage and asked Saul: “Why do you listen to those who say, ‘David is trying to harm you’? You see for yourself today that the Lord just now delivered you into my grasp in the cave. I had some thought of killing you, but I took pity on you instead. I decided, ‘I will not raise a hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed and a father to me.’ Look here at this end of your mantle which I hold. Since I cut off an end of your mantle and did not kill you, see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion. I have done you no wrong, though you are hunting me down to take my life” (1 Samuel 24:9-12).
Teach us, dear Father, to show respect to your anointed leaders among us, from our family and home into our leaders in school, office and work, government and the church; despite their flaws and even abuses, help us to transcend these and try to find your favor in giving them to us; may we pray for them to be more reasonable, just and fair in the exercise of their office and position.
Teach us, dear Father, to look anew to them repeatedly and try to find your image in them; may Jesus be the main factor we must consider in obeying them, respecting them, and in recognizing their power and authority; may we not resort to violence often preceded by betrayals perpetrated by those supposed to be closest to those in authority. Amen.
Photo by author, Dominican Hill, Baguio City, January 2019.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr, 21 January 2026 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 3:1-6
Today, I thank you dear God our Father for the gift of our hands, our hands that touch and hold others dear to us, hands that keep joyful things closest to us, hands that openly receive so much from you and from others, hands that cover our face and protect our selves from harm, hands that move freely to do so many things and enable us enjoy freedom; forgive us Father when these same hands you have blessed to feed us and keep us warm are the same hands we hurt others, the same hands we close to refuse friendship and goodwill of others; the same hands that make us unfree in taking what is not ours and committing so many sins.
Bless our hands, Jesus, like what you did to that man with withered hand; let us stretch our hand, Jesus to touch and help others in need; open our hands, Jesus to receive and to share you; like David slaying Goliath, use our hands, Lord, small and feeble they may be to do your will and proclaim your power and greatness; may our hands be your hands, Jesus, regardless of our youth like St. Agnes whom we remember today, the little hands that hold on to you in deep faith, the little hands that spread your gospel of love and justice. Amen.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Feast of the Sto. Niño, Cycle A, 18 January 2026 Isaiah 9:1-6 ><]]]]'> Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 ><]]]]'> Matthew 18:1-5, 10
On this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, we extend for a day our Christmas celebration with the Feast of Sto. Niño (Child Jesus), a special feast granted to us by Rome in honor of the crucial role in our evangelization by that image gifted by Magellan to Queen Juana of Cebu over 500 years ago.
As Nick Joaquin claimed in many of his writings, it was the Sto. Niño who actually conquered our country to become the only Christian nation in this part of the world which shows indeed as Christ had declared in today’s gospel that whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me” (Matthew 18:1-5).
“Jesus and the Little Child” painting by James Tissot between 1886-1894 now at Broolyn Museum; from wikimedia.org.
One of the things I cherish in my hospital ministry since 2021 is visiting new born babies: now I know why there are called a “bundle of joy” and always a sight to behold for me whenever I see them yawning and stretching then curling their little hands and arms when I sprinkle them with Holy Water.
Babies and children have something so uniquely in them that elicit joy in everyone even the most hardened criminals. They are so lovely because they speak to us of the beauty of life, of the joy of living, of the bright future still coming for us all. That is why experts are worried anywhere there is a falling or zero birth rate because that paints a bleak future of all kinds of problems and disaster to any nation or society so evident these days among developed countries that lack younger generation to care for their elderly and workforce to run their economy.
The sight of every child and baby is always a celebration of life, most specially in the arrival of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word in time and space over 2000 years ago. This Sunday, Jesus is inviting us to remember that scene at the first Christmas when he was born, to see him in every child like that one he had called in the midst of his apostles with flesh, bones, and blood pitched among us.
Photo by Mr. Darwin Arcilla, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, RISE Tower, OLFU-Valenzuela, Christmas 2025.
Here is the Son of God so intimate with our own lives including all its mess especially sickness and death itself.
Here is the Child Jesus we fondly call Sto. Niño who came to be born among us because he loves us so much.
Here are the children of the world, the greatest among us because they assure us of continuity in the future.
Looking at the Child Jesus and the child he had called in the midst of the apostles, we are challenged today to feel and realize what is to be with a baby or a child as another person with breath, body and a purpose yet to unfold throughout his/her life. Being like a child is the greatest of all because that is when we are fully human, entrusting everything to God. Que sera, sera!
It is said that in ancient Egypt, people cried aloud whenever a baby was born because of the sufferings every newborn is due to undergo in life. So true! In fact, my earliest lesson about life came through an illustration in a Reader’s Digest magazine of a newly delivered baby crying while being held by a doctor in the OR. I asked my mother why the baby was crying and she told me that when a child is born and cries, then it is alive; if a baby does not cry at birth, it could be dead that is why the doctor has to spank to make him/her cry. That lesson had remained until now with me as a priest – that life is difficult and growing up is always painful.
And how ironic as in the gospel today that Jesus directs us to becoming like children to fully grasp these realities. It is not only Jesus but also the little children who enlighten our unclear minds with such great light that “shone in darkness” (first reading) because of their simplicity. We adults tend to complicate things by overthinking while children remind us of all the beautiful possibilities in life despite the mess and chaos we are into.
Photo by author, 2022.
It is this simplicity of children that also disarm us of our false securities and pretensions when they playfully smile and laugh at us as they simply live in the present moment enjoying our company. In their fragility and vulnerability is their strength making us so concerned with them that we can’t stand leaving a baby or a child alone especially when he/she is crying, when in need.
There lies the good news of the Sto. Niño and of being like a child: he calls us to stay because Jesus too like children remain with us. There is no turning back for Jesus and for every child here today.
Jesus is here along with every child that is why we too are here gathered today to receive them and to ensure every life is safely protected and lovingly cared. It is in our staying, in our remaining we become child-like as we realize the tremendous blessings God has bestowed on us as his children (second reading) called to grow and mature in Christ by making him felt and known in this world that has slowly become so unwelcoming of babies and of God.
Notice how with the growth of what St. John Paul II called as “culture of death” promoting artificial contraceptives and abortion to control population growth, there is the corresponding turning away of people from God and eventually from one another. In this age of “Do-It-Yourself” Christianity, deciding on the number of kids to raise depend more on the couple’s financial capabilities than faith in God’s grace and power so that couples and people in general have unconsciously considered babies more as things to have than persons to love.
We end our reflection on this Feast of Sto. Niño with this Christmas song we have always taken for granted, “Joy to the World”. Written in 1719 by the English minister Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World” expresses the very joy not only of Christ’s coming but also of the birth of every child who reminds us of God among us in Jesus and of the need for us adults to be one with God always.
Photo by author, Sto. Niño Exhibit at the Malolos Cathedral, January 2022.
Joy to the world,
the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let very heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world,
the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods,
rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
He rules the world
with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love
And wonders of his love
For heaven and nature to sing anew of this joy, we have to be like the children welcoming Jesus in our hearts without any ifs and buts.
For us to repeat the sounding joy in life, we have to be like children in trustingly following Jesus in his Cross; notice how the gospels are silent about children calling for the crucifixion of Jesus. Only the adults demanded his death!
Finally, for us to experience the wonders of God’s love, we have to become like children who let truth and grace be the rules in life, not lies and powers. That is the greatness of being like a child – of trusting more in God than in man and his sciences and technologies, ideologies and philosophies that all fall short in bringing true joy and fulfillment in life. Amen. A blessed week ahead of everyone!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 16 January 2026 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 2:1-12
“The Paralytic of Capernaum Lowered from the Roof”, a 5th/6th century Mosaic at Sant’ Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy; from christian.art.
Today we thank you, dear God our Father for those people you have sent to to carry us through our darkest and trying moments in life to find you, to be near you, to rise again like those men in the gospel today.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:3-5).
Thank you, Father in sending people who never gave up on us, who still believed in us, who hoped and had faith for us when we have totally given up in life that is why Jesus Christ's first words to the paralytic were "your sins are forgiven."
May we who have been brought closer to you, Jesus by those kind of people be persistent too in bringing others who are lost closest to you.
Likewise, forgive us Father for those many occasions we have become so insistent with our desires and plans that we have become unreasonable in our devotion and "panata", hurting others in the process without realizing it is actually a turning away from you like the people who insisted in being given with a king to rule over them. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 January 2026 1 Samuel 4:1-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:40-43
Photo by author, Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag, 09 January 2026.
Your words since Monday at the start of Ordinary Time are so amazing and lovely, O God our Father; I love, O Lord, the contrasts presented between the first reading and the gospel just like today that is so unique with the striking differences in approaching you, dear God.
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; every man fled to his own tent. It was a disastrous defeat, in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead (1 Samuel 4:10-11).
A leper came to him (Jesus) and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean (Mark 1:40-42).
Until now, many of us are still like those Israelites who brought the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefront as if it were an "anting-anting" in fighting the Philistines who overwhelmingly defeated them; the recent Traslacion that many still continue to defend is something we ought to rectify or recalibrate by deepening our faith to put order and solemnity in a supposed to be religious activity; show us the way in witnessing to others the proper approach to you, Lord, is like that leper full of trust and surrender to your will, not in insisting our personal desires and "panata" that in the process we forget to imitate your Son Jesus in being loving and charitable. Amen.
Photo by author, Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag, 09 January 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 January 2026 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 1:29-39
Photo by author, Bgy. Ubihan, Meycauayan City, January 2022.
How lovely are your words today, Lord Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelled among us!
Thank you very much in sharing with us the power of your words; in fact, we are the only ones with whom you have gifted with this power; the world and everything in it was created simply by God speaking the words that came to exist.
Teach us, Jesus the value of listening to you, letting you speak first so that like Samuel, you may "not permit any word we speak to be without effect" (1 Samuel 3:19); may we truly share in your prophetic ministry by "enfleshing" the words we speak by walking our talk; likewise, heal us, dear Jesus of our many infirmities and sickness due to sins and evil that make us speak too much that instead of building up others we destroy one another; like those demons you drove out from the sick you have cured in today's gospel, keep our mouths shut, "do not permit us to speak" (Mark 1:34) when not necessary. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 12 January 2026 1 Samuel 1:1-8 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).
Thank you dear Jesus for this brand new week, for this start of Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar; how wonderful to remind us it is the time of fulfillment, of completion and wholeness in you, O Lord because it is only in you lies our fulfillment.
Teach us to open our hearts and souls to your call, Jesus like the brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John, your first disciples; was it really that quick and easy for them to leave everything behind including the father of James and John just to follow you?
Yes, dear Jesus, like them, we felt incredulous and even fearful with your call, not only last year but even this year; in fact, as we begin our Ordinary Time this Monday, the more I felt your calling continues everyday because without you we shall never be complete.
Like Hannah,
our lives will never be complete
and fulfilled without having you
that may take several forms
like a child for Hannah;
many times Lord we wonder
why we cannot have what we
are specifically praying for
like Hannah who has become
a subject of ridicule by others
for being barren and childless;
but, inasmuch as your call continues
for us, then you hereby assure us too
of your continuing works in our
many deficiencies if we can only
be patient and persevering in you
in awaiting your calls.
Amen.
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
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