The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of Sts. Cyril (Monk) & Methodius (Bishop), 14 February 2025 Genesis 3:1-8 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 7:31-37
Photo by author, 14 August 2024.
On this most joyous day when most hearts has only one thing to say, I pray dear Lord Jesus Christ that I remain and stay at your side, never to hide because of shame and sin.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked… When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord god among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:7, 8).
How times have changed, Lord, when in the garden at Eden the man and his wife sinned, they hid whereas today no one is ashamed anymore of their nakedness; what a shame that today, we don't hide in shame instead flaunt our nakedness for everyone to be convinced we are clean, we are right, we have not sinned.
Heal our deafness, Jesus; take us off away from others to be with yourself like that deaf mute, put your fingers into our ears, pierce our hearts, touch our souls for us to see our indifference to sin and evil and shout your words "Ephphatha" that we may be opened anew to the sad realities of our nakedness we ironically use to cover our sins. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 February 2025 Genesis 2:18-25 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 7:24-30
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, July 2024.
Your words today, O Lord, are very striking: in the gospel you were seeking rest while a Syrophoenician woman - a pagan and outsider - was seeking healing of her daughter; in the first reading, God felt it was not good for man to be alone and he cast him into a deep sleep, took one of his ribs and made it into a woman; in both instances, you listened and heard O God the needs of your people whether it was loudly voiced out like that pagan woman or simply kept in the man's heart.
And that's the good news so good for us to hear today: you listen. Always.
Likewise, in both stories, there is always a giving up on our part for us to be heard and answered by you, Lord: the Syrophoenician begged and disregarded her very self for her daughter possessed by the demon while the man gave names to all the creatures and animals given him; moreover, the man had to lose his one rib to give way for the woman's coming in order for him to have company while in the gospel, the pagan woman accepted her being a foreigner, an outsider that Jesus reintegrated her into the fold.
Many times, Lord, we feel left out in you, we feel you not listening nor hearing our deepest pleas and longings when in fact you know them so well that you only await us to come to you and voice them out, express them to you trustingly. Amen.
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, July 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 12 February 2025 Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Mark 7:14-23
Photo by author, sunrise in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Bring me back, Lord to Eden to Paradise where everything started; bring me back inside my heart, inside you, Lord, the beginning of your creation, the center of your attention:
Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east and he placed there the man whom he had formed… to cultivate and care for it. The Lord God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die” (Genesis 2:8, 15, 16-17).
Photo by author, morning in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Take me back inside my heart, Jesus, to be clean and free again to choose you, to be faithful, to be loving; indeed, "what comes out of a person is what defiles him" (Mark 7:20) even from the very start when the Father created us; until now, even inside you our "home" we still could not understand it like the disciples (Mark 7:17-18) because we would always choose our own selves, our own desires, our limited knowledge.
Photo by author, afternoon in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Let me remember Eden and let me return to Eden, Jesus, to be one with you again - me the creture, you my Lord and my God; take me back in your presence, Jesus and let me realize that though man is the master of his world, God is man's Master and Lord for He is the Creator, we are the creature. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes & World Day of Sick, 11 February 2025 Isaiah 66:10-14 <'000>< + ><000'> + <'000>< + ><000'> John 2:1-11
Photo by author, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Bignay, Valenzuela City, 03 February 2025.
Thank you, dearest God our loving Father in sending us your Son Jesus Christ who gave us his Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Mother too!
From the very beginning of his ministry to our modern time, Mary has always been close with Jesus who showed us your great signs of your loving presence, generosity and mercy, life and joy first anticipated at the wedding at Cana, his first miracle.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. when the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:1-5).
From stillromancatholicafteralltheseyears.com, January 2022.
How lovely that Jesus Christ's first sign (miracle) happened "on the third day" - a prefiguration of Easter - the fullness of your coming to us, the fullness of our healing and salvation, the third day after his "hour"; how prominent that at his "hour" on the Cross, blood and water flowed out from Jesus' side pierced by a lance while there at the wedding at Cana, Jesus transformed water into an excellent wine.
Both at Cana and at Lourdes there was water, the sign of life; most of all, in both instances like at the Cross, Mary was present bringing us healing and joy.
At Cana, water became an excellent wine to prefigure the Lord’s Supper we celebrate each day in the Holy Mass as a foretaste of our promised glory in heaven while at Lourdes, water transformed and healed the sick.
Photo by author, Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Paul Spirituality Center in Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
Thank you most Blessed Virgin Mary to your witness of faith in Christ; your example enabled us to encounter the gift of God in Jesus, to create the feast of joy of communion, of healing, of fulfillment that can only be made possible by God’s presence and his gift of self in Christ; in Cana and on to Lourdes and wherever we may be, every day is God’s coming, the “hour” of Jesus in every “here” and “now” when we experience the sign of God’s overflowing generosity to us all who are so tired and exhausted most especially so sickly; you, O Blessed Virgin Mary, are the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of God sending us a mother who shall comfort us in moments of sickness and darkness; continue to help us, most Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes to get through these times of many diseases and sickness; get us closer to Jesus your Son who is our true peace and joy by doing whatever he tells us like the servants at Cana. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin, 10 February 2025 Genesis 1:1-19 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:53-56
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Blessed are you, God our loving Father in giving us a taste of the beginning everyday especially on this first day of work and of school as your words in the first reading remind of our daily beginning in you!
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…” Thus evening came, and morning followed… (Genesis 1:1-3, 7).
In the beginning there was nothing but chaos just like in our lives until you brought light, order and life, God; it is always light and order that come first to set the stage for life like in those first two days; what is most lovely, Father is when the third day came and there began balance and symmetry in your creation like sea and earth, day and night, sun and moon that relationships happened and everything started to be good.
Photo by author, sunset in Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
In the gospel today as in our lives, every day is a new beginning with its many chaos: sickness and diseases, emptiness, self-alienation, rejection in all forms, failures and disappointments as well frustrations that all remind us of how everything was in the beginning; but, with Jesus Christ's coming and healing we saw the light and experienced healing and order.
Everything becomes good when seen in your light and design, Lord Jesus; when our relationships are kept and maintained especially at home like with our siblings, parents and family as exemplified by the twins St. Scholastica and St. Benedict.
Make everything new again and most of all good, dear Jesus in our lives like in the Genesis as shown by St. Scholastica who was able to do more because she loved most. Amen.
Painting “Altar of St. Scholastica” by Johann Baptist Wenzel Bergl (1765), ncregister.com
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, 09 February 2025 Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ><}}}}*> Luke 5:1-11
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, the Holy Land, May 2017.
In my almost 27 years in the priesthood, I have always found kids asking the most difficult questions in life than adults. What makes their questions more difficult is that there are no easy answers that you have to use some imagery.
That is why it is always good to pray in advance the coming Sunday gospel like last Tuesday when a young girl asked me why God had allowed her to be given away by her biological mother for adoption.
After a pause of silence as I reflected today’s gospel, I told her that many times we are “thrown” by God – inihahagis, iniitsa – like in baseball or basketball not to be lost but to be caught in order to be cared and loved to score points and win this game called life. God knew so well her adoptive mother is an excellent “catcher” in life who “caught” her to give her a better life like now going to a good school, being dressed properly, never gone hungry. Hence, my reflection on this Sunday’s homily is focused on that magic word “to catch”:
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him (Luke 5:9-11).
Mosaic in the Church of St. Peter in Capernaum from thework-fso.org.
The word “catch” is a very catchy one (pun intended), used in various ways that could mean positively or negatively like in catching a bus or a train and catching a ball. We catch a meaning while we also catch a glance. We do a lot of catching daily in our lives like catching up with lessons and chismis that eventually we catch a cold or catch pneumonia after a kiss like in the song.
To catch means to intercept and hold, to have something or someone like when lovers are told of having a good “catch” with their girlfriend or boyfriend. That is why, it is always said that in catching, never drop what you have caught – take care, and cherish what you caught! It could be a prized catch after all.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
It is the same thing that Luke is telling us this Sunday, of how Jesus makes a marvelous catch not only with Peter and company but for all of us in the gospel.
Coming home from a night of fishing without any catch, Jesus saw Peter with his companions washing their net. They must have been very sad with nothing to bring home to their families and then came Jesus who was so keen with everyone’s feelings and situation. Jesus surely noticed the sadness in Peter that He borrowed his boat to teach the crowd who have been following Him.
After teaching and dismissing the crowd, Jesus asked Peter to go fishing again. Imagine Peter twice allowing Jesus to “catch” him: first, in borrowing his boat and second, in instructing him to “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Imagine Peter so lugi (bankrupt) with Jesus borrowing his boat that could have been so worn out with holes to be His platform for teaching. Was it not insulting? Are we not like Peter sometimes? Or like his boat then borrowed by Jesus?
Good that Peter did not mind it at all but, when asked by Jesus to go out fishing again, we find a change in Peter already. Jesus had already caught Peter as he had caught the Lord’s words and teachings that he replied, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”
Photo by author, Macapagal Blvd.’s dampa restaurant, 2018.
The miraculous catch of fish caught Peter and everybody by surprise. See how Peter knelt to Jesus in reaction to their great catch instead of helping his men pulled their nets.
Most of all, Peter addressed Jesus as “Lord” whereas earlier, he called Him “Master”. There was already a recognition of Jesus more than a Teacher and Master but the Son of God for how can one really explain the great catch that happened?
The greatest sign that Peter was totally caught by Jesus was his conversion, when he begged the Lord to depart from him for he was a sinful man. At that point, Peter was already all caught up by Jesus along with his brother Andrew and their companions, the brothers James and John
Many times in life Jesus catches us by surprise in the most ordinary instances of our lives like in our daily routines. But most surprising of all is when Jesus catches us in our lowest moments in life too like Peter, deep in sin or deep in trouble, even deep into debts and other darkness in life. There are times we set limits to our patience and perseverance that we are so tempted to give up and quit, saying “I’ve had enough!” or “I’m done with this!”
Don’t give up, don’t quit! Jesus is passing by. If you feel like being thrown out of the room or up in the air or even the sea, muster all your courage and trust, Jesus is around waiting to catch you as you fall. Nobody had really gone rock bottom in life without anything at all. At least, we are still alive and that’s because Jesus had caught us, always carrying us in our worst moments in life.
That is why we have to do a lot of catching up with Jesus too. Persevere in prayer. Every failure, every suffering and pain is an opportunity to grow, to succeed, to meet someone or something so surprising who could be right beside you in the Sunday Mass.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
The Sunday gospel reminds us to be like Peter and company to remain open for new things and new persons who come to our lives who may be Jesus Himself passing by.
Yes, we may feel being thrown sometimes in life but not to fall but to be caught by Jesus, the best catcher of all time.
Let us allow ourselves to be caught by Christ like Paul in the second reading and Isaiah in the first reading. Despite their flaws in themselves, especially Paul who admitted being “the least” of all apostles, both were caught in the most ordinary circumstances of their lives. And once caught, there was no turning back: Isaiah offered himself to God to be sent while Paul became the best fisher of men in the early Church.
Remember our prayer before the Holy Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
Photo by author, bronze statue of Peter kneeling before Jesus after the miraculous catch of fish near the shore of Capernaum, 2017.
Every time we pray that, we admit we are caught up in Jesus, by Jesus. What a fitting confession just before we catch Jesus Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. And just like the gospel this Sunday, we find in every Mass, in every week of our lives, Jesus our Lord and Master is the most essential and prized catch we can always have.
We can go “fishing” all our lives but remain incomplete, unfulfilled and even lost without our best catch of all, Jesus who sees us too as His best catch ever. Amen.Have a blessed week ahead.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II First Friday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, 07 February 2025 Hebrews 13:1-8 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Mark 6:14-29
Photo by Mr. Gelo Carpio Nicolas, January 2020.
Keep me faithful and true to you, Jesus because you are "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8); it is I who forgets all the time, who chooses to turn away from you and be unloving, unkind, unforgiving.
Forgive me, Jesus when you tell me "Let brotherly love continue" (Hebrews 13:1)....
...but many times I can't look or even consider each one a brother or a sister because of our many differences.
"Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels" (Hebrews 13:2)...
...I think, more than the angels but on many occasions it was you whom I have turned away, Jesus because I am so suspicious of others who come to me for whatever needs.
"Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you are also in the body" (Hebrews 13:3)...
I'm sorry, Jesus for the many times I have imprisoned others in my narrow mind of many biases and prejudices.
"Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled" (Hebrews (13:4)...
what a shame, Jesus in our age when marriage is no longer honored and just taken for granted with many couples defiling their bed.
"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have" (Hebrews 13:5)...
alas! my dearest Jesus, save us your priests our diocese so in love with money, with the rich and powerful with whom we are so close and identified with, totally neglecting the poor and the suffering among us with our many excuses and alibis, always at their beck and calls.
Yes, Jesus, many times we feel like Herod: bothered only by the gospel, bothered only of your presence among the poor and suffering but so much like Herod, we never bothered ourselves to truly find you and follow you. Amen.
Photo from Wikipedia, mosaic of Jesus with Mary and John the Baptist at the Hagia Sophia in Turkey.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin & Martyr, 05 February 2025 Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 6:1-6
Photo by author, Sakura Farm, Atok, Benguet, 27 December 2024.
Today dear Lord, I pray for more discipline which is a frightening and misunderstood word and concept for many these days.
There are some who think discipline is suppression of freedom, a kind of constriction not realizing it is in discipline we truly become free; for some, discipline is optional, even seasonal when in reality, we need discipline in our entire life; lastly, people have difficulty with discipline because they see it only as a human activity, a human effort forgetting that God has a large part in our discipline.
Brothers and sisters: You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”… At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).
“Jesus Unrolls Book In the Synagogue” painting by James Tissot (1886-1894), brooklynmuseum.org
How I admire your own discipline, Lord Jesus: your coming home to Nazareth and most especially your practice of sabbath are clear indications of your great discipline!
How lovely that the word discipline is also from disciple, a follower; as your follower, help me continue with my self-discipline to inspire and teach others too of the importance of discipline in life and in discipleship. Amen.
*We also pray today for all with breast cancer being the memorial of their patroness, St. Agatha whose breasts were cut off as one of the tortures she endured; but after having a vision of St. Peter, her breasts were restored and completely healed while in prison.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 04 February 2025 Hebrews 12:1-4 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 5:21-43
Photo by author, sunrise at the Sea (Lake) of Galilee, the Holy Land, 18 May 2019.
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea (Mark 5:21).
Lord Jesus Christ:
How lovely to hear this story of your frequent crossing of the sea to the other side to reach out to more people hungry and thirsty for your words that comfort and forgive, ease one's burdens and most especially for your healing touch.
You always come to us, Jesus, reaching out to us when all we have to do is follow you and as much as possible, be near you to touch you like that sick woman who touched your clothe after Jairus had begged you to come to touch his sick and dying daughter.
That's all we have to do: follow you, be near you, and touch you; but, of the large crowd there like today, only one dared to touch you; only one father had the courage to ask you to come and lay your hands on his daughter.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in France, 2023.
Give me Jesus the courage to come to you, to get near you and touch you with faith and desire to meet you, to speak to you, to be with you; take away my fears of leaving the safety of the sidewalks, of walking the main street that leads to your Cross when in fact, it was you who have paid the price for me by dying on the Cross.
Let the words of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews sink in me, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood" (12:4) because I am always afraid, always hesitant in following you, in touching you.
Touch me, Jesus so I may cross the sea with you despite the storm and giant waves; touch me, Jesus so I may cross the street and walk beside you in your arduous journey; touch me, Jesus so I may stand with you at your Cross. Amen.
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2024.
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.
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