Tag: martyrs

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!

What God wants from us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, 14 August 2023
Deuteronomy 10:12-22   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Matthew 17:22-27
Photo by author, Bolinao, Pangasinan, April 2022.

Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father,
for speaking to us again today
through Moses in the first
reading; for the first time,
he finally gave us the important
question we never ask,
we always avoid,
and take for granted:

"And now, Israel, 
what does the Lord,
your God, ask of you?"
(Deuteronomy 10:12).
Forgive us, dear Father,
for never asking this important
question of "What do you ask of us?"
because very often we are so
occupied with our selves, with all
of our pursuits for fame and power,
wealth and security;
we rarely ask this question because
we are afraid of commitments,
we are afraid of sharing,
we are afraid of serving,
we are afraid of being true
and just, fair and honest,
most of all, of finding you
in our neighbors!
Forgive us, Lord our God,
for playing god like you,
lording it over your whole creation
destroying earth as we exploit
its resources for more power
to dominate others and worst,
in deciding who must live,
 who must die;
teach us to be like
St. Maximilian Kolbe,
the Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century
who gave his entire life serving
you through modern means of
communications to spread your truth
and good news that is why he was 
imprisoned by the Nazis in Auschwitz
where he eventually gave up his life
for another man about to be executed.
Help us O Lord to always
keep in mind you alone is our God
whom we must serve in those in need,
for those neglected,
the poor and the sick;
like St. Maximilian Kolbe,
may we ask always
what you want from us
and strive by your grace,
to fulfill your will.
Amen.
St. Maximilian Kolbe,
Pray for us!

Speaking our hearts out

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Sts. John Fisher & Thomas More, Martyrs, 22 June 2023
2 Corinthians 11:1-11   <'[[[>< <'[[[>< + ><]]]'> ><]]]'>   Matthew 6:7-15
Photo by author, sunset over the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela district, January 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our almighty and loving Father
for the gift of two great saints,
John Fisher and Thomas More
whose memorial we celebrate today
after giving their lives in defending
the gospel of Jesus Christ
before the powerful king of England
in 1535.
Like St. Paul in today's first reading,
St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More
spoke their hearts out to everyone,
opposing King Henry VIII's divorce
and call to break away from Rome;
for standing for what is true and good
like the sanctity of marriage 
and primacy of Rome,
they were both beheaded.
What a beautiful example for us
to emulate today when so many of us
professing to be Catholics yet 
have turned their backs from
the Church and especially from the Gospel,
choosing to be oblivious 
to you dwelling in our hearts;
like St. Paul, they have taught us
that standing firm on our faith 
is the best expression of our love
not only for God but for everyone;
help us realize that when we allow
ourselves to follow modern trends 
that are contrary to the life and teachings 
of Jesus our Lord,
that is when we do not love at all
because that is when we allow evil and sin
to spread its errors and destruction
of persons and life in general.

But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4
Forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but could not stand for what is
true and just, good and holy
there in our hearts;
forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but would keep on holding to our
anger and bitterness, 
refusing to forgive
from our hearts;
forgive us, dear God,
when we would call you "Father"
but would always push the lines
and limits in our hearts
until we fall into temptations and sin.

Forgive us Father,
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
St. John Fisher
and 
St. Thomas More,
pray for us!

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.

Christmas is recognizing the face of Christ in everyone

The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Octave of Christmas, Feast of Holy Innocents, Martyrs, 28 December 2022
1 John 1:5-2:2     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     Matthew 2:13-18

Beloved: This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7
God our loving Father,
thank you for sending us your Son
Jesus Christ, the light of the world;
we have experienced many times in life
especially during these three years of pandemic
that no matter how dark our lives may be,
for as long as we walk in Jesus Christ,
there is always light.
Forgive us, Father,
that many times we look for other lights;
we are so tempted and delighted in 
following the lights of the world with its
vast array of colors that blind our eyes
or with klieg lights that put us on spot like stars
yet leave us groping in emptiness after;
forgive us, Father, in following other lights 
that turn us away from one another and you;
until now, many of us act and think like Herod
and the experts of Jerusalem who refuse to
follow the light of Jesus that make us recognize
you on the face of one another.
Let the light of Jesus born on Christmas
enlighten our minds and our hearts to see
and follow you, O God our Father,
found on the face of every child still in the womb,
on the face of every child who must be cared and protected,
on the face of every woman, especially mothers
and grandmothers forgotten after nurturing us,
on the face of every dad especially those working 
away from family and loved ones, rarely seen
crying and rejoicing for their loved ones,
on the face of young people so lost with no one
to listen to them, be with them, assure them of love,
on the face of our health workers considered heroes
yet still taken for granted and even forgotten,
on the face of farmers and fishermen marked with
so many lines of hardships and sufferings under the sun
to feed us yet totally left on their own,
on the face of others in the margins and the disadvantaged,
those forgotten by the society and unfortunately by families:
this Christmas, call us into our own Egypt,
into a retreat and soul-searching for enlightenment
to find your face anew within us
so we may find you on one another.
Amen.

True greatness

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin & Martyr, 09 August 2022
Ezekiel 2:8-3:4   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
I just find it so amusing,
dear God our loving Father,
how we have always been
fascinated since the earliest
times in knowing who is the
greatest?

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.”

Matthew 18:1-3
How sad, O God,
that in our constant search
for who is the greatest, it had
led us to more animosities,
more destruction, and worst,
more deaths like when Hitler caused
the death of millions of people during
the Second World War following his 
obsession in being the greatest.
But, in a kind of poetic justice, 
it was during those dark years of
Hitler's Holocaust when we had 
our great modern saints, St. Teresa 
Benedicta dela Cruz whose 
memorial we celebrate today and 
later next week St. Maximilian
Kolbe who both died in the gas
chambers of Auschwitz.
True greatness is in being like
a little child who is open to listening
and learning new things in you, O God;
very malleable and teachable
ready to become like what you would 
want us to become;
like St. Benedicta who was born and raised 
as a Jew who later became an atheist
in the process of her intellectual pursuits while
a young woman but eventually converted as a
Catholic by saying that
"Those who seek truth seek God,
whether they realize it or not."
True greatness is in being like
a child who is docile and trusting in you,
O God, very open and willing to "eat"
your words that are "sweet like honey"
as the Prophet Ezekiel tasted in the first reading.
Let me proclaim your Word, O Lord, 
even if it hurts those closest to me like 
St. Benedicta:  her mother was deeply saddened
with her conversion to Catholicism while she also
wrote a strongly worded letter to Pope Pius XI
asking him to denounce Hitler's Nazi regime.
True greatness, O God,
is to be small and weak,
powerless like Jesus Christ on the Cross,
suffering and dying with your people
like St. Benedicta who chose to join her
people at the gas chambers lovingly described
later by a survivor who said, "Every time
I think of her sitting in the barracks,
the same picture comes to mind:
a Pieta without the Christ."
Loving Father,
there is no need for us ask who is
the greatest among us 
because that is YOU alone; 
yet, in your majesty and power,
you have chosen us to be
the greatest in your eyes,
in your heart that you sent Jesus
to die for us on the Cross.
May we always keep that in mind
so we may be like him and your
saints.

We pray also, God our Father, 
for the victims of violence and 
exploitation these days especially in 
war-torn countries and impoverished
sectors of our society that their plight 
be finally stopped, never to happen again 
in whatever form in the future.  
Amen.
St. Teresa Beneidcta dela Cruz
(née Edith Stein),
Pray for us!
From https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/09/quote-of-the-day-9-august-let-go-of-your-plans/

Rebellious people, merciful God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus, Martyrs, 13 August 2020
Ezekiel 12:1-12 >><)))*> |+| >><)))*> |+| >><)))*> Matthew 18:21-19:1
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2018.

Praise and glory to you, our merciful Father always waiting for us to come home to you. Thank you for being patient with us who always rebel against you, turning away from you to be on our own.

Sadly, whenever we rebel, it is not you whom we hurt and inflict pain with but those dearest to us like our family and friends who truly love us. We are like the people of Jerusalem who have become callous and indifferent, cold and distant from you, O God, who truly cared for them.

The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 12:1-12

So many times, loving Father, we have become like that debtor in Christ’s parable whose debts were written off by his master and yet could not do the same to a fellow debtor who owed him with a lesser amount.

Both that debtor in the gospel and the rebellious house of Israel in the first reading share the same sin and evil attitude of refusing to recognize your goodness and mercy you have given them that we are equally guilty of today.

So many times in our lives, Lord, this same attitude of being rebellious and unmerciful are the main reasons that destroy our many relationships because we have separated ourselves from others.

Teach us through Jesus Christ to always live grateful to your abounding love and kindness, mercy and forgiveness to us, Father, so we may always share these same blessings with others.

Touch our hearts like you have moved the first anti-pope, St. Hippolytus who sought forgiveness from the Pope he had earlier rebelled against, St. Pontian after they were both sent to hard labor on the island of Sardinia during the persecution by Maximus Thrax.

What a beautiful twist of fate that you still brought them together, Lord to share in witnessing to your truth and mercy.

We pray today for those who have rebelled against you, O God, uttering all kinds of blasphemies against your most Holy Name not realizing that the more they rebel against you, the more they have become distant from us the people they are supposed to serve.

Open their eyes and their ears so they may see and hear the sufferings of the people in this time of pandemic. Amen.

Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, May 2020.

Generous and cheerful

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Lawrence, Martyr and Deacon, 10 August 2020
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 >><}}}*> // + \\ <*{{{><< John 12:24-26
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.

Dearest Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous and cheerful too, because sometimes our generosity is filled with sadness or bitterness as it is comes from having excess of anything that we have. Worst, it is only when we are forced to become generous by others or due to circumstances.

True generosity is always borne out of joy when our only reason in giving and sharing is due to our faith in you — that no matter what happens to us, you will never abandon us, Lord, providing whatever we need in this life.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8

Most of all, generosity with cheerfulness is always a choice, a decision freely made in imitation of you, Jesus Christ like St. Lawrence your deacon. Those who give or share anything with a heavy heart, if given the choice, would rather keep whatever they have to remain like a grain of wheat without dying.

Like St. Lawrence, teach us generosity that is naturally human and divine, that like him while being roasted alive, he had the sense of humor to ask his persecutors to turn him so that his grilling may be perfect and even. Amen.

“Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, Deacon” by Hipolito de Rioja (16th c.); from commons.wikimedia.org

Praying for prophets and martyrs

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church, 30 June 2020
Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 >><)))*> <*(((><< >><)))*> <*(((><< Matthew 8:23-27
First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church photo from ucatholic.com.

As we remember today, O Lord our God, the courage and fidelity of the first martyrs of Rome, we also pray for more martyrs and prophets who may inspire us to be your witnesses in this troubled time.

Or better still, make us one!

How sad that until now, we live in a time so similar with ancient Israel and ancient Rome where many of us turn away from you to worship money and other false gods, blinded by the material wealth and prosperity around us.

Many of us have become greedy and unjust in our ways to others especially the poor and marginalized.

Send us a prophet, Lord, like Amos who would dare to speak your words of truth, warning people who have gone astray.

The lion roars — who will not be afraid! The Lord God speaks — who will not prophesy! I brought upon you such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: you were like a brand plucked from the fire; yet you returned not to me, says the Lord. So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! And since I will deal thus with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.

Amos 3:8, 4:11-12

Increase our faith in you, O God, while at the middle of this great storm of COVID-19 pandemic worsened by many social upheavals happening around the world and right in our country.

Sometimes, we feel like the disciples of your Son Jesus, so terrified with the violent storm going on with waves almost swamping us.

Forgive us, Lord, when we panic because we sometimes feel that you do not care at all that we are perishing in the storm while you are “sound asleep”.

Fill us with your courage, sweet Jesus, to give witness to you like the martyrs of Rome who chose death than be one with the modern Neros of our time who lie and mislead many others into evils and sin. Amen.

Red Wednesday in our Parish last November 2019.

Holiness is for everyone, in all seasons

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, Martyrs, 22 June 2020
2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 7:1-5
Photo by Dr. Mai Dela Peña, Tokyo, 2018.

Today we praise and thank you O God for two great saints of modern time who remind us that holiness is for everyone in all seasons because you are always relevant in every age, in every nation.

St. Thomas More and St. John Cardinal Fisher, two great men who taught us more than 500 years ago the need for us to be faithful to you and your Church than with the modern world and its modern thoughts, of the need for us to fight and oppose all forms of tyranny of men especially of those in power that always have impact on everyone especially those with less in life who take the brunt of such sinful excesses.

Both men were martyred because of their refusal to go with England’s King Henry VIII’s divorce from his first wife and eventual break from Rome and the Pope.

Both men, especially St. Thomas More who was a diplomat-lawyer and a family man, showed us that though we are in this world, we are not of the world; though we are citizens of the city of man, we are first of all citizens of the city of God.

How sad that we have refused to learn the value of their lessons of obeying you, our loving Father in heaven above all.

In fact, it was also the problem with Israel in the first reading when its capital city of Samaria fell into the hands of the Assyrians due to the people’s infidelities to God.

May we realize that every time we turn away from you O Lord, we turn away also from one another and go on our selfish own ways in life that further divide us apart and bring us into destruction and ruins.

Through St. Thomas More and St. John Cardinal Fisher, help us O Lord to examine our very selves, to see our own wickedness and shortcomings so we may effectively fight tyranny and deceit in this modern time. Amen.

From Pinterest.com.