Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 25 September 2026 Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:18-22
I really wonder, Lord, if you have "made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done" (Ecclesiastes 3:11), then what time is it now for me?
A time to weep or to laugh? A time to mourn or to dance? A time to scatter or to gather? A time to be silent or to speak? A time to love or to hate?
Despite our ingenuity and intelligence, we still could not figure out what time it is, Lord, because we can never know you God unless we let go of ourselves, unless we return to you.
And that is why Pete Seeger and the Byrds added those chorus lines before each stanza from today's first reading:
To everything – turn, turn, turn There is a season – turn, turn, turn And a time to every purpose under heaven
Photo by author, Dominus Flevit Church outside Jerusalem, May 2017.
Let me turn, turn, turn to you always to experience your time, dear Lord; let me turn, turn, turn to you so I may see you like Peter as you are in today's gospel - the Christ of God (Luke 9:20), the One who suffered and died but rose again for our salvation!
In your Passion and Resurrection Jesus, you have shown us time is a dimension for us to determine and measure the passing of moments, a reference point to go back in the past, to plan in the future, to experience the present that often escapes us; may we learn from Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull the parting words of the wise Chen after teaching him how to fly higher than most seagulls: "Friendships should depend on nothing like time and space; remove time, we have now, remove space, we have here; don't you think between now and here we could meet once or twice?"
Teach us, Lord Jesus to return to you, to turn away from sins and evil to experience fullness of time in your coming in every here and now. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, 16 September 2026 Memorial of Sts. Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 7:31-35
Photo by a friend in Seabrook, Washington, 06 September 2026.
Love never fails. In other translations, love never ends.
How lovely, Lord Jesus; and so challenging because many times I think of at least an end to "loving" like when Peter asked you last Sunday "how many times must I forgive my brother who sins to me... is it seven times?"
When you said it is "seventy times seven" - that is clearly what love that never fails.
As I pray to you, I realized every age, every generation in history always thinks itself as the worst, almost hopeless like during this time in our lives not only in the world but in our own country: everything is chaos and disordered, injustice and corruption are the norms followed ironically in this predominantly Christian nation where money not only talks but even shouts.
But, here we are still Jesus: alive and kicking, fighting and surviving, eagerly awaiting our new dawn of salvation in you, Jesus; grant me patience and perseverance to keep loving especially when it seems to be no longer feasible and even not doable; like Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian during their time, it was not persecution per se that was the problem but divisions among early Christians especially in the refusal of some in forgiving and readmitting apostates to to the faith; dear Jesus, teach us to be flexible, more loving than legalistic like your former Pope St. Cornelius and his friend St. Cyprian the bishop who both insisted those who denied their faith while facing persecution may be forgiven and be readmitted; it was clearly choosing to be more loving than to be legalistic.
Teach me, Jesus, to learn to read the signs of the times and most specially your divine will in dealing with the many complicated issues we now face in our being Christians. May in everything we let love prevail for wherever there is love, you are always there, Lord because that is when we have communion and oneness in you. Amen.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 10 September 2026 1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> Luke 6:27-38
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 08 January 2026.
It is again that most difficult part of your gospel, Lord Jesus, our least favorite of your teachings - “love your enemies.”
Forgive us, Lord because the mere thought of "enemies" turn us off right away; it is wrong but human as we are, there is always that feeling of revulsion, of getting even with those who have hurt us or wronged us; but, we realize too how in the long run it is pure foolishness of keeping that grudge against our enemies because as St. Paul tells us also today, "knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up."
Your teaching for us to love our enemies is not really about our strength and willpower, Jesus but in our likeness with God, "Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful."
Help us,
Jesus,
to pray more
intensely,
to surrender more wholly
to you so that we can
let flow towards others
the mercy you have
showered us.
Amen.
Photo by author, Anvvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 06 September 2026 Ezekiel 33:7-9 ><}}}}*> Romans 13:8-10 ><}}}}*> Matthew 18:15-20
From Facebook post by Marvin Germo, 04 September 2026.
Thanks be to God for Alex Eala – not only an excellent tennis player, a bright and intelligent lady but most of all, most kind and humble of all.
Her recent landing on the front page of New York Times that prides itself with the motto “All the News Fit to Print” in its 175 years of existence cemented Eala’s stardom. That’s real influence no blog stats nor Hollywood walk of fame could match.
Side by side with the major events and newsmakers in the world, the editors of New York Times featured Eala on their front page not entirely because of her prowess and grit in tennis but of her expressions of love, community and unity of Filipinos – a far, far cry from news coming from our forsaken country of calamities and crooks in government. Eala – along with other athletes like EJ Obienna – are the only good news we now have, with her practically a walking gospel like St. Paul in today’s second reading.
Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Romans 13:8).
Photo by author, St. Paul Spiritual & Renewal Center, Bgy. Tanyawak, Alfonso, Cavite, 19 August 2026.
What kind of love is Paul exhorting the Romans then and us today? For St. Paul, love is the self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed us when he offered himself for us on the cross.
Recall last Sunday St. Paul reminded us “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1) like Jesus. In that same chapter, he spoke of not retaliating or seeking vengeance while in the following chapter we now have, he expounded the themes of obedience to authority and a sort of social responsibilities like justice (Rom. 13:1-7).
And while justice demands we pay off our debts and other dues to one another, to the state and public officials, it is a totally different scenario when it comes to love. For St. Paul, love is the imitation of Jesus Christ, a love that can never be measured at all and even be demanded and decreed.
Love is not a possession that anyone can receive nor give in an exactly measured quantity like a pound or a kilogram of love. St. Mother Teresa said the measure of love is when you love without measure. It is either you love or do not love! And when we do not love, then we sin which is a refusal to love.
That sin can only be repaired and corrected by love.
Therefore, to overcome sin, you have to love more!
That is why we hear Jesus teaching us today the importance of fraternal correction based on love not anything else.
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two other along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).
Photo by a friend in Swan Island Dahlia Farm, Canby, Oregon, 29 August 2026.
Jesus is now heading to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission. Along the way, he taught his disciples important lessons about the Church he had just established upon Peter, the Rock, while at Caesarea Philippi the other Sunday.
For three Sundays beginning today, Jesus will touch on three moral issues we face with seeming complexity in our modern time like fraternal correction, forgiving, and work. These are crucial because they are expressions of mutual love for one another. Most of all, it is in these realms we fall into “sin of omission” particularly with fraternal correction as we tend to detach ourselves from others when they are committing sin. By distancing from them or refusing to make a clear stand against evil, we unconsciously allow sin to persist.
The dark side of the sin of omission lies in that tendency within us to not care at all with those into serious sins when we separate and distance from them, even telling them “bahala ka na sa buhay mo…pinili mo iyan, pagdusahan mo.”
Fraternal correction is the antidote to sins of omission because it is about keeping our relationships intact as family, friends, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ who becomes truly present in the world among us when we live in harmony because “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt. 18:20).
This is the good news of Eala, whether she wins or loses a match, she speaks of love and kindness. And she has been consistent with it!
From Facebook, 04 September 2026.
Since the Old Testament, God had already insisted on this moral precept as his children that we look after one another like a sentinel – a watchman or a guard – as he told the Prophet Ezekiel in the first reading.
At that time, the enemies of Judah were closely approaching their borders that they designated watchmen as their first line of defense. Failure by these watchmen to warn the people – as it turned out later – could spell disaster for the kingdom.
The same thing is true with us. We are all interrelated with each other. One rotten tomato can spoil the whole batch like allowing corruption in every form to continue as well as electing corrupt officials into office. How sad we have not learned our lessons; maybe not until we have sank deep into flood…
We cannot be indifferent and be mere bystanders amid the evil and sins happening around us perpetrated especially by those closest to us. It is not enough either that we do no wrong on others yet allow those into corruption to continue with their evil doings. Fraternal correction is an expression of our love – for God and for others. We correct those into sin because of love, not because we are better or holier.
St. Paul beautifully declared in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “Caritas Christi urget nos” – the love of Christ urges, impels us – to love more especially in these times of calamities and disunity in the country.
Photo by a friend, Swan Island Dahlia Farm, Canby, Oregon, 29 August 2026.
This love of Jesus Christ the Lord himself described as “new commandment” at his last supper (Jn.13:34) is a love rooted in God himself, a love that “levels up” every disciple into the mystical plane of existence.
Recall those moments you have truly loved without strings attached, unselfish and selfless: that is when we realize that love is a debt we can never pay off because love is a gift from God, something that is never exhausted nor depleted. In fact, we realize that we too can love like Jesus Christ!
God does not “order” nor “command” us in the strict sense to love him. He asks for our love because he loves us, because he is love. When we love, we fulfill the commandments of God, we live in peace and harmony with one another like in heaven. That is why it is only love that will remain in heaven where there will be no more fraternal corrections. Most of all, love can never be paid off as a debt because love is all that shall remain to become our very person in Christ. Amen.Have a blessed, loving week!
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday, Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 31 August 2026 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 4:16-30
Photo by author, St. Paul Spiritual & Renewal Center, Bgy. Tanyawak, Alfonso, Cavite, 19 August 2026.
Teach me Lord to "know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified" like St. Paul, not just "looked intently at you" like your folks in Nazareth when you preached in your synagogue; it is not enough to just look intently at you, imitating you and your manners and style but not your life, your self-sacrifice on the Cross; what a shame in this age of social media we speak and preach about you merely to chase clout for ourselves using sublimity of words or persuasive words of wisdom used by demagogues and influencers for followers and shameful profits.
Help us realize, Jesus, that our faith rests on the power of God best shown in your Crucifixion, not in our personality nor eloquence in speech nor being savvy with new technologies that blind us from the realities of life like love and sacrifice, kindness and patience, justice and truth. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo City, 16 June 2026.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 August 2026
How amazing, O Lord Jesus that when it is already evening, when darkness is all around us, that is when you are actually inside us, if we could just open our hearts and eyes of faith then we shall see you truly our Light glowing within, bringing warmth and joy.
Many times in our darkness we lose sight not only of you, Lord Jesus but also of our self that away from you we lose our identity and let our job and tasks define us or worst, our possessions and achievements as well as pains and hurts; we cave into our darkness within not seeing your wounded handed touching me holding me unmindful of your holding me, loving me.
When things get dark and we can’t see anything teach me Jesus to listen to your silence to feel your presence sense your movements follow your steps waiting trusting self-emptying.
Most of all, Jesus, help me emulate your Mother our Mother too, Mary most holy, to remain focused on you cusping you in my palms when all is dark holding on to your words believing they shall be fulfilled when I remain and stay with you there on the Cross. Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 August 2026
Photo by author, Anvaya Resort, Bataan, 21 July 2026.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to gaze in your loving eyes anew, be wrapped around with your tight embrace without being judged nor blamed.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: with nothing at all, to be poor of material wealth and rich in Spirit and virtues, empty of pride, filled with your humility and simplicity so scarce of everything abundant in you and your love.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: no longer afraid of the dark and everything not yet known and seen, nor terrified of great waves of tasks and duties, of strong winds like what people think and say about me because in you alone is my certainty as well as safety and security.
Photo by author, Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, 15 May 2025.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to be nourished by your words that give life and meaning, to be quenched of my thirst with your living water that restores my being, cleanses me of my sins and shame.
Let me come home to you, Lord God: to rest in you, be at home in you because you are my origin, my root my home my peace my destination in this long journey in life for you are my Lord and my God. Amen.
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 09 January 2026.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 31 July 2026 Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Glory and praise to you, O God our loving Father for the gift of St. Ignatius of Loyola who taught us that "Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul" (First Principle and Foundation, Spiritual Exercises #23).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
How sad, dear God, that the most painful truth is that you are most often rejected by us who assume to know you most, too familiar with you and your ways like what our two readings reveal today: Jeremiah was rejected by your people led by their priests after speaking your words to them to change their evil ways lest their Temple lie in ruins like in Shiloh along with other disasters God was planning to punish them (Jeremiah 26:4, 7-9); in the gospel, Jesus went home to Nazareth but "the people took offense at him" for his mighty words and deeds (Matthew 13:57-58).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Two scenarios, same message of rejecting you, O God because we believe more in our selves, in our ideas and understanding of who you are than believing your very person in Jesus Christ; teach us, O Lord, to be empty always so that you may fill us with your love like St. Ignatius who taught us to pray and contemplate to attain your love: "Take, Lord, and accept all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me" (#234, Spiritual Exercises).
All for your greater glory, O Lord. Amen.
Photo by author, the three core group of the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola at the middle, St. Francis Xavier at his right, and St. Peter Faber at his left; frame at the facade of Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2024.
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2026 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
“Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene”, painting in 1835 by Russian painter Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov now hanging at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; from en.wikipedia.org.
"I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18)
What a joy must have been for St. Mary Magdalene to proclaim to the Apostles your rising, your appearance to her, Lord Jesus.
Most joyous of all, Lord is how you have called her by name, "Mary!"
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken by Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus (John 20:1, 11-14).
Many times Lord Jesus I feel like St. Mary Magdalene on that very early morning of Easter: feeling lost or distant from you who seem to be missing or taken away from me; but so often, like St. Mary Magdalene, we fail to recognize you with our eyes because we picture you so differently to who you really are.
Many times our sight fails that is why most often, you call us by name; unfortunately in this age of social media and so many other distractions in life, we fail to hear nor even listen to your voice because we are afraid of silence as we are so afraid of the truth - that you love us so much that is why you have forgiven our sins.
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary of Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:16-18).
“Noli me tangere” (touch me not) fresco in the Lower Basilica of St. Francis Assisi Church in Italy painted by Giotto de Bondone in the 13th century from commons.wikimedia.org.
Everyday you come to us, Jesus, calling us by name like Mary Magdalene - someone you personally know, with all of our sins and most kept secrets in our hearts, in our past.
If we could just be patient like St. Mary Magdalene in picking the pieces of our lives, of converting daily, of transcending the scars of sins of our past, then we shall hear and joyously listen to your voice spoken in a whisper, so sweet, so reassuring of your real presence, most of all filled with tenderness because you love us immensely, Jesus.
If we could just listen to your voice, Jesus, then like St. Mary Magdalene, we can proclaim too with joyful enthusiasm to other disciples "I have seen the Lord!" spreading you love and good news of salvation. Amen.
From Facebook, April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord!”
Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 July 2026 Hosea 2:16,17-18, 21-22 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 9:18-26
Photo by Mr. Vigie Ongleo somewhere in Colorado, 03 June 2026.
So many things are happening in your gospel passage today, Lord Jesus, involving three key persons you have healed with crowds at the background; what I like most, dear Jesus are the gestures involved:
the official came forward and knelt before you and you rose and followed him;
the sick woman came up behind you and touched your cloak you turned around to declare her her faith had saved her;
in the official's home, you drove away the crowd making a commotion, then you came to take his daughter's hand laying dead on her bed and she was brought back to life.
How amazing Lord Jesus that you never fail to respond positively to our human gestures of coming forward to you, of coming behind you, and being still before you; in you, Jesus, our human gestures have become so divine, the ordinary so sublime like the sharing of meal in your name.
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twleve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house house and … When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by hand, and the little girl arose (Matthew 9:18-21, 25).
Bless us, Lord Jesus, to follow you in the desert of emptiness to be able to listen to you and most especially respond to you "in right and justice, in love and mercy, in fidelity" (Hosea 2:16, 21) that we may remain in your loving relationship always. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Michael Retreat House, Antipolo City, 16 June 2026.
