Praying not to shrink

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga & Companions, 03 June 2025
Acts 20:17-27 <*((((>< + ><))))*> John 17:1-11
Photo by author, St. Paul Retreat House, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
Dear Jesus,
help us your disciples
in this modern age to
be like St. Paul who never
"shrinked" in boldly standing
for your gospel values;
how lovely in today's first
reading that St. Paul twice
mentioned he never "shrink"
from telling and proclaiming
God's plan for everyone.

“and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes… for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God” (Acts 20:20, 27).

How lovely 
that on this day too
we celebrate the memorial of
Uganda's first martyrs led by
St. Charles Lwanga and companions
never shrink before their king
to engage in homosexual and other
pervert sexual acts; they stood firm in
your teachings of the sanctity of the
human body as temple of your spirit.
How true are your words,
Lord Jesus at the end of your great
discourse and prayer for your
disciples at the Last Supper
that indeed, "Father, the hour has come"
(John 17:1): the hour has come when
people are so proud with their wrong
sense of "pride" in rejecting your gift
of sexuality and human body;
how sad that these days, our country
despite being the only Christian nation
in this part of Asia is now the "trans" capital
in the region; for the longest time too,
our country has been one of the top
users of online pornography; and worst
of all, we have the most irreconcilable
situation of being a nation deeply
religious yet with a government so corrupt
that we have always lagged in development
as a country where much of its human
resources have to work abroad to earn
decently.
The hour has come, Jesus,
that we too make a stand for
what is true and just,
that we do not shrink in
doing and teaching your
gospel values; grant us the
courage as well as clarity of mind
and magnanimity of spirit and heart
in not shrinking for you in the face
of so-called modernity and wokism.
Amen.
St. Charles Lwanga and companion
martyrs of Uganda,
Pray for us!

Advent is for making a stand in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin & Martyr, 13 December 2024
Isaiah 48:17-19 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:16-19
Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Peña, MD, in London, 2000.
Forgive us, Jesus,
in refusing to make a stand in you,
for being blind in recognizing you
among our brethren,
for being deaf to your words and
dictates within us to be true and just,
for being afraid of sufferings
and discomfort,
for choosing to be always in control:
let us learn from you, Lord,
about what is good and where we
must go (Isaiah 48:17).
Many of us have become
indifferent in this age so divided
by so many labels and ideologies,
thinking it is making a stand
to be in the middle,
to be blind and deaf and mute
than dare to witness what is
true and just.

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'” (Matthew 11:16-17)

Grant us the courage of St. Lucia,
who at a very young age
stood for you, Jesus,
for your gospel,
for what is true and good and just;
enlighten our minds and hearts to
seek and follow you always,
even to the Cross!
Amen.
Painting of St. Lucy by Francesco del Cossa (c. 1436-1478), National Gallery of Art. According to tradition, the eyes of St. Lucia were gouged during the persecution of the early Church in Sicily, Italy around 300 AD.

Red Wednesday 2024

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Red Wednesday, the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, 27 November 2024
Revelation 15:1-4 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 21:12-19
The Colosseum in Rome is lit in red to draw attention to the persecution of Christians around the world. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters, posted in February 26, 2018.)

Today we bathe our churches and other religious buildings in red to mark Red Wednesday, Aid to the Church in Need’s (ACN) annual campaign for persecuted Christians that started in 2016.

Since then, participation in the campaign has increased steadily in more than 30 countries including the Philippines which is one of the early supporters of the initiative to make known the realities of anti-Christian persecution in this modern time. According to ACN’s biennial report called “Persecuted and Forgotten?” published in October this year, Christian persecution has significantly worsened in most countries surveyed between 2022 and 2024 as it highlighted incidences of displacement, forced marriage of women and girls, and anti-conversion laws.

This year’s campaign focuses on Christian children and young people displaced by persecution and violent conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Persecutions of the faithful come in various forms, sometimes hiding in conservatism and the laws of the land. In Iraq last week, conservative lawmakers have moved closer to slashing the country’s legal age of consent from 18 to nine years old that would allow men to marry young children that could give rise to many grave abuses against women.

Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.

Red Wednesday aims to emphasize the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right often circumvented in many countries these days, particularly those under totalitarian regimes.

For the first time this year, the Church of England is joining Red Wednesday as ACN-UK spearhead a signature campaign to ask the British Foreign Ministry to channel more taxpayer-funded Overseas Development Aid to support Christians and other religious minorities worldwide, recognizing their unique vulnerabilities.


Significance of Red

Red is the color of blood, signifying the countless people especially children and women who have lost their lives and those who continue to suffer in systematic persecutions perpetrated not only by some regimes but by criminal syndicates too.

On this day, we remember and pray for them all as we also try to reflect on what kind of opposition to our faith have we experienced here in our country the Philippines which is 90% Christian.

This is something for us to ponder every Red Wednesday which happens after the Christ the King: while we are so free – not just free but so free in fact without any opposition or costs at all to celebrate the Mass and other religious feasts and festivities all year round, how can the words of Jesus in today’s gospel apply to us?

Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony… You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives” (Luke 21:12-13, 16-19).

The red color signifies courage that vividly portrays the blood shed by our many brothers and sisters in faith facing persecution in other parts of the world like those singing the song of the Lamb before God in heaven as seen by John in the first reading.

But, we wonder, will it be bloody red too for us here in the Philippines? What kind of opposition to the Christian faith have we encountered here in the country? What is the most serious threat ever made against our faith or to anyone personally?

Maybe nothing that much like chapels being burned or altars being vandalized. Or, maybe none at all except for peer pressure when we are teased for being so “conservative” in going to Mass or to Confessions. Perhaps, the most serious dilemma we have had in our faith is whether or not we shall pray or at least make the Sign of the Cross properly when eating in a restaurant or a fast food!

Photo by author, Red Wednesday 2019.

We are not trying to denigrate our being Christians nor are we insulting our fellow faithful; we simply want everyone to praise and thank God for this tremendous blessing of being so free to worship Him in our country.

Let us value this religious freedom we have and enjoy by being faithful to our Sunday Mass as God commands in His Ten Commandments (3rd) by cultivating a deep, personal prayer life that flows into our good deeds as Filipino Christians.

Let us stand for that freedom by safeguarding our democracy from threats within and outside the country.

Let us thank God for this religious freedom we enjoy by being more responsible and truly inclusive of everyone, not just for the rich and powerful or those like us. Jesus dared us to “give testimony” to Him in today’s gospel – that is, be a witness which is literally speaking in Greek, martyria. At least, we do not have to shed blood literally speaking like in other countries. So, let us be witnesses of Christ’s love and presence. Let us pray:

Lord Jesus Christ,
help us to truly express our
oneness in suffering,
oneness in consolation
with our persecuted
brothers and sisters
by witnessing to Your
love and mercy
through our personal
and communal prayers
as Your Body, the Church;
may our liturgies flow into
our loving service to those
in need especially those in the margins,
those forgotten by their loved ones
and by the society,
and those disadvantaged in life;
may this Red Wednesday
illumine our hearts and minds
not only to see the plight of others
but most of all of our many blessings
so that we may make the right decisions
to make ourselves truly Your temple,
O God, here on earth amid
the persecutions going on;
may our voices one day join
those blessed in your presence
to sing the song of the Lamb.
Amen.
Campus Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela City.

Nanay Sta. Monica

Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 27 August 2024
Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.

Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine. She has always been associated with her son Augustine who is considered as one of the great saints of the Church with so much impact in our theology and almost every Catholic teaching. It was through the prayers and many sacrifices by St. Monica that St. Augustine was converted to Christianity who eventually became a priest then later as Bishop and Doctor of the Church. That is why during the Vatican II reforms of the liturgy, her memorial celebration was moved from May 4 to August 27, a day before St. Augustine’s memorial too.

Next to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Monica is perhaps the best example of motherhood beyond compare. Patron saint not only of wives and mothers, St. Monica is also the Patroness of those seeking patience and victims of abuse.

Most probably, stories about her suffering in silence in being married to an abusive and philandering pagan husband named Patricius were “overextended” to the extent we Filipinos got a very wrong impression of a “martyr” as being a wife who willingly bears without complaints the abuses by her husband.

St. Monica was very far from that kind of “martyr” but was in fact a “martyr” to the truest sense of its meaning from the Greek word martyria that means to witness Jesus Christ. Witnessing for Christ by bearing sufferings does not mean allowing one’s self to be abused freely by anyone; witnessing for Christ is primarily living a life centered on Jesus in prayers that flow into good works and holiness. Martyrdom is overcoming evil with goodness that is why many times, it ends with death – but, it is not as a defeat but as a triumph that leads to conversion of sinners and unbelievers, exactly how Christianity spread before and until now wherever Christians are persecuted.

According to St. Augustine’s own account in his book Confessions, although domestic abuse was prevalent during their time, their ill-tempered father never beat their mother. Her daily prayers especially her frequent going to the Mass with so many acts of charities to the poor irritated their father Patricius and yet led him to respect St. Monica. Eventually, her prayer life that found expressions in her almsgiving and kindness to everyone won the heart of Patricius, calmed his violent tendencies until he finally converted to Christianity before his death.

Before calming and converting her husband, St. Monica first won over her equally difficult to deal with mother-in-law! So, for those having problems with in-laws, St. Monica is the go-to saint for you!

But it is not that easy at all. We need to do the efforts, to cultivate a prayer life and allow God to work in us in order to grow in faith, hope, and love as well as the virtues especially patience. All these aspects of her faith flowed in her remaining so sweet and gentle despite her problematic husband and three children (whom Patricius refused to be baptized as Christians) that she was able to exercise a good influence over abused wives and suffering mothers who were so moved by St. Monica’s example.

Now here is the funny thing that most likely mothers and wives today would surely laugh at – St. Monica’s advise: “If you can master your tongue, not only do you run less risk of being beaten, but perhaps you may even, one day, make your husband better.”

Huwag daw po kuda nang kuda, mga Nanay at mga Misis…

Having spent most of my 26 years as a priest ministering to students and young people (exactly 17 years and counting), I used to tell them how often our mothers’ nagging is actually their love language; they may be saying a lot even without thinking at all but that’s because they love us, they care for us. That is why I find it amazing, so prophetic when Filipino mothers speak the same thing when children come home, hurt and beaten after not listening to their words of caution: “Sinasabi ko na nga ba…!”

Photo from shutterstock.com

Many times, mothers are prophetic; listen to whatever they may be saying because so often, they tell the truth. About us or of then people we go out with.

One thing I miss these days after my mom’s death in May are her words of love and wisdom as well as her nagging with accompanying threats (tatamaan ka sa akin or lalayasan ko kayo). Psychologists say that is wrong for parents to threaten their kids. I don’t really know but from my own experience those were perfectly examples of tough love that made us strong.

Now Mommy or Mamu as we called her since becoming a grandma is gone, no one reminds us or nags us anymore. And the worst part of that is, you have no one to make sumbong. We have lost somebody willing listen to all of our kuda.

That I think makes every mother to suffer a lot because they keep so many of her children’s pains and hurts, including anger and complaints in their hearts: many times they explain but we refuse to listen, accusing her of bias and favoritism. There are times she would say “hayaan mo na lang anak”… she would be talking and talking again of many things.

Every Nanay is a Sta. Monica, suffering in silence because she has always been loving us in silence. Truly, when a mother dies, our links are never cut off from her as if the umbilical cord remains intact. And wireless up to heaven. How funny that we complain often our our mother’s nagging and endless talking but when she becomes silent, we miss her. Now because we are sure she loves us so much.

Sharing with you this most beautiful tribute of four brothers to their Nanay I found last night in the internet now with 4M views. Pray for all mothers today, thank God for their great gift of life.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/SJHtTEMdeiPdESJh/?mibextid=KsPBc6

When God speaks

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Taegon & Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2023
1 Timothy 3:14-16   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 7:31-35
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
Praise and glory
to you, God our loving
Father!  As we celebrate
today the Memorial of Korea's first 
priest martyr St. Andrew Kim Taegon
and his companion martyrs of over
100 others, we thank you too
for the vibrant Christian faith
in that part of the world.

How amazing are your
grace and works, O God
in that "land of the morning calm" -
Korea - where the seeds of faith
were primarily planted by 
lay people touched by 
the few missionaries
who have reached their
shores.

Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angel, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

1 Timothy 3:16
Great 
is their mystery of devotion
as St Paul put it;
grant us the same grace
of continuing fascination
to Christ's mystery among us
through prayers and studies
of your words and of the
Church's teachings;
let Jesus be manifested 
in our lives of witnessing
as vindicated by the Spirit,
proclaimed and believed,
accepted and embraced
because it is so true
by everyone.
Grant us discernment,
dear God,
to always recognize 
and follow you in the 
various persons and 
instances, no matter how
unusual they or these may be,
for you are a God of surprises.
Amen.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon
and companion martyrs
of Korea,
Pray for us!
St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.

Seeing Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr, 10 August 2023
2 Corinthians 9:6-10   <*[[[[><< + >><]]]]'>   John 12:24-26
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 2017.
God our loving Father,
help us to see and follow Jesus
your Son like your servant
St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr.
Though there may be less
persecutions these days
of Christians, the call to be 
Christ's witnesses is more
compelling today as we live
in world that tries to forget you
and negate you.
Like the Greek visitors in
Jerusalem who asked help 
from Philip and Andrew 
to see Jesus, we too want
to see him. 

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

John 12:24
To see you, O Lord Jesus
is more than laying one's eyes
on your image
or your Blessed Sacrament;
to see you like St. Lawrence
is to have an insight,
to penetrate your inner mind
of self-sacrifice,
of losing one's self like
the grain of wheat that falls
on the ground to die, disintegrate
and be transformed
as new wheat bearing
much grain to feed more people.
Like St. Lawrence,
let us see that reality
to have the courage to offer
ourselves to you through others
in a life of service and sacrifice
so we may inspire more to serve you,
most especially see you too.
Let us not count the costs
of what we give up for they have
all been paid for by Jesus;
like St. Lawrence,
let us consider everything
as a pure grace from you
meant to be shared
for indeed, "you love a cheerful giver";
may we keep in mind and heart
that "God is able to make every grace
abundant for us,
so that, always having all we need,
we may have an abundance
for every good work"
(2Cor.9:8).

In this world of affluence
amid the ironic poverty of so many,
may we emulate St. Lawrence
in learning and living Christ's teaching
that true wealth is found
not in having things for ourselves
but in sharing and giving
with the others the gifts
we have received.
Amen.
St. Lawrence,
Deacon and Martyr,
Pray for us!

On the right path amid difficulties

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle, 25 July 2023
2 Corinthians 4:7-15   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Matthew 20:20-28
Photo by Fr. Gener Garcia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2019.
Praise and glory to you, O God,
on this wondrous feast of
St. James the Greater,
the first of the Apostles to
follow the Cross of Jesus Christ
during the persecution of Christians
in Jerusalem by King Herod Agrippa
(Acts 12:1-2). 
Together with his brother St. John,
St. James the Greater's path in
loving and following Jesus Christ
up to the Cross was not an easy one;
from a very materialistic and selfish
perception of the kingdom of God as
we heard in today's gospel,
St. James eventually journeyed
inside himself to become the first
to drink the chalice of the Lord's passion
after being present both at the
Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden.

St. James the Greater
eventually realized that 
even in difficulties,
we are on the right path 
in Jesus Christ,
with Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10
St. James the Greater,
Pray for us!
Amen.

In the beginning

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial, St. Pedro Bautista & Companions, Priests/Martyrs, 06 February 2023
Genesis 1:1-19   <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*>   Mark 6:53-56
Photo by author, 6:30 AM, 29 January 2023, in Bgy. Igulot, Bocaue, Bulacan
"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" (Genesis 1:1-2).
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father,
in waking us up to a wonderful 
morning, reminding us of 
another beginning!
Though many of us have 
the Monday blues,
whining and complaining
of great tasks ahead,
of the many problems still not
solved especially unpaid bills
while others are still sick with
some feeling lost and empty
for so many reasons;
forgive us in first seeing what we
do not have without seeing what
you have given us!
Awaken our senses, Father!
Awaken us to this great 
reality of our daily "genesis" story:
of how in the beginning
there was nothing at all!
Help us appreciate how we
all started in the beginning
without the many things
we have today that despite 
the gloom and darkness,
pains and hurts,
we are still better off today
than before when we were just
beginning in our career,
in our business,
inn our studies,
in our lives.
Let us keep that in mind
and heart, O Lord, that 
in the beginning,
there was nothing until 
you blessed us with everything
that is good.
Let us be filled with hope
in you that while everything 
may be in chaos in every
beginning,
order soon follows
as you unfold your 
wonderful plans
for us.
Your Son Jesus Christ
came to enable us to start anew 
in daily life, to find every day 
a new beginning, a genesis,
and go back to you, Father;
to be touched with your love
and mercy so that we too
may touch others to experience
new beginnings in life.
The great martyr-priests 
of Japan led by St. Pedro Bautista
suffered greatly in bringing the faith
in the land of the rising sun;
their martyrdom may have ended
their lives but their faith in you
touched so many others that
brought new beginnings to life
here on earth; may we touch 
others with your love and mercy,
dear Jesus today to start a new
beginning 
for a new earth.  
Amen.

Along with Christmas comes the Cross

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Octave of Christmas, Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr, 26 December 2022
Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Matthew 10:17-22
Photo by Mr. John Ryan Jacob, 24 December 2022 in Paco, Obando, Bulacan.
Dearest Jesus:
when I was a child,
I have always wondered
how did it happen you were born
in December then suddenly in April
you died on the Cross?
Now I have grown and learned
about history and most of all about life
and living, I have realized the beautiful
truth of your coming:  you became like us
not to remove but to be one with us
in our sufferings even death
so that we may be one with you
in your Resurrection!
Thank you for this wonderful
reminder of your Christmas Octave:
your Nativity is also the feast of your final coming
when you will be surrounded by your angels
and saints like St. Stephen our first Martyr,
tomorrow by St. John the Apostle, your beloved,
and on Wednesday by the Holy Innocents.
Along came with Christmas comes also the
Cross of Good Friday!

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 10:17-18, 22
O Lord, indeed, let us
"beware of men" who forget 
that looming behind your manger
is also the Cross;
let us "beware of men" who have
commercialized and trivialized
your birth, focusing more on
happiness and fun, not even joy as
you have described at your Last Supper;
let us "beware of men" who have taken you
away from Christmas, worshipping money
and things and all that glitz and glamour of the world;
let us "beware of men" who forget the poor
and marginalized, the old and infants especially 
those in their mother's wombs;
let us "beware of men" who insist on changing 
the rules of marriage and sex according to their
selfish and truncated views on life and relationships;
let us "beware of men" who deny your Cross!
Like St. Stephen, help us Lord Jesus
to always look up to you in heaven in
prayers and sacrifices, witnessing your gospel
and your Cross, remaining faithful and true to you,
upright and decent in living, defending life and justice
without condemning nor judging our persecutors.
Amen.

Finding God, following Jesus

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2022
Job 9:1-12, 14-16     ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'>     Luke 9:57-62
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, of a Philippine Serpent Eagle at
the Sierra Madre, Quezon Province, July 2022.
Life is truly a mystery,
O God our loving Father!
Filled with so many twists
and turns, bends and
corners that lead 
and open us to 
new vistas, 
new situations,
new sceneries
that make us closer
to finding you and 
experiencing you.

Job answered his friend and said: God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him.

Job 9:1, 4, 9-11
Like Job
and St. Lorenzo Ruiz,
many times our hearts cry
out to you unable to understand
at how and why so many bad things
are happening to us, sometimes we
feel overburdened almost giving up
but still in the end, we persevere 
because we believe in you,
we cannot go without you
for we would rather go in darkness
assured of your presence than in
light without you on our side.

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Luke 9:57-58
Grant us, dear Jesus,
the grace of true freedom to
choose you always freely,
to be free from any attachments
with the world and worldly
except you whom we follow
wholeheartedly like St. Lorenzo Ruiz
and companion martyrs..

And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:59-60
Grant us too, dear Jesus,
the grace to live in the present,
to be always in every here and now,
learning from the past,
forging ahead onto the future
to preach the good news of
salvation urgently,
joyfully!

And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:61-62
Lastly like St. Lorenzo,
teach us dear Jesus to be firm
in our decision in following you,
to stop entertaining thoughts
of turning back from your mission,
thoughts of seeking comforts
and other personal benefits
 except of doing and fulfilling
 your most Holy Will
unto death.
Amen.