Lord, show me your face

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 30 July 2025
Exodus 34:29-35 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 13:44-46

*Photo by author, sunrise in Laurel, Batangas, February 2025.*

God our Father,
it has been quite a long time
since these rains started
and how I miss seeing the sun
rising in the morning
like your face appearing 
before me; how I love arising 
early in the morning 
to experience the sunrise
that I imagine as closest to
the experience of Moses conversing
with you, Lord,
face to face like two friends;
in the sunrise 
I find and experience
the paradox of you,
of your presence in absence,
when you seem "veiled"
to me and everyone.

When he finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses Moses entered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded. Then the children of Israel would see that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; so he would again put the veil over his face until he went in to converse with the Lord (Exodus 34:33-35).

"Nobody sees your face,
O Lord, and lives again"
because to see your face
is our final fulfillment in life;
to see your face like Moses
and still live is to live 
"veiled" in your mystery
that eyes cannot see
but the heart and soul can feel
and recognize; you come to us,
Lord, "veiled" in many instances 
like the sunrise when I cannot
see your face fully
and directly like the sun 
but the more I look at you,
the more I experience you in me,
the more I become aware of my own face
created in your image and likeness;
show me your face, God,
not as an image but as a reality
inside me so that like Moses,
your kindness and love
may shine in me always,
living authentically,
living fully in your loving presence,
veiled in the mystery
and beauty of your kingdom
buried like a treasure in the field
or like a pearl of great price
I would never trade for anything
except you in Jesus.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise over the Pacific from Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Resort, Infanta, Quezon, March 2023.*

Lent is being wrapped in the mysteries of God

40 Shades of Lent by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, First Week in Lent, 12 March 2025
Jonah 3:1-10     + + +     Luke 11:29-32

*Photo by author, Timberland Highlands Resort, San Mateo, Rizal, 08 March 2025.*

Fill me, O God,
with wonder and awe
for you like Jonah!
Surprise me always
of your goodness among
your peoples;
help me in my unbelief!

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth (Jonah 3:1-5).

Loving God our Father,
you are so great and awesome,
more wide than the great city
of Nineveh yet so mysterious
that Jonah himself could not 
believe what he had seen:
the people of Nineveh believed 
in you and repented
a mere half day yet 
when he proclaimed
your message to them!

Many times in life,
we are like Jonah -
very reluctant in following
you, in obeying you because
your ways are so different, 
even beyond comprehension
yet so real; many times,
we feel we know more 
than you know; most of all,
most of the time, 
we insist our own
even to you.
Sorry, Lord.

*Photo by author, Hidden Valley Springs Resort, Calauan, Laguna, 20 February 2025.*

In this Season of Lent,
banish our evil thoughts,
banish the many reasons
and explanations we have
to open our minds and our hearts
to your mysteries
so we may read your many
signs of presence and power,
love and mercy
for us even in this time
in the world
when it has become
more difficult to believe in you
due to modern trends,
most especially of our own
stubbornness;
grant us that same disposition
you gave Jonah who finally
believed and obeyed you
in doing your work
in the way you want it done.
Amen.

Ordinarily extraordinary

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Week I in Ordinary Time, Year I, 13 January 2025
Hebrews 1:1-6 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Mark 1:14-20

*Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul Spirutality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 04 January 2025.*

Brothers and sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word (Hebrews 1:1-3).

O how lovely and so deep,
dear God are your words 
on this first day of Ordinary Time;
they are so touching and personal
yet very ordinary,
common,
and typical.

That is how we take the word
"ordinary" so often -
lacking in special or 
distinctive features
that we take for granted 
anything ordinary
because it is...
ordinary.

Maybe this is the reason why we
find it so hard to really believe
in you, Father;
when you sent us your Son,
Jesus Christ, the "refulgence" or
reflection of your glory and
"imprint" of your being,
we find him so ordinary 
because we wanted someone more,
someone bombastic,
someone so different from us,
not so like us
because we feel so ordinary.

It is so funny and silly
of us, God, that we 
cannot accept you in Jesus
who became human like us,
who chose to be ordinary,
preferring to be poor than rich,
simple than complicated
yet so kind, so very much akin to us
in everything except sin;
instead of being honored
and grateful in your choosing
to be ordinary like us,
we rejected him
and us in the process.

Open our minds and our hearts
to your coming to us in Jesus like
the brothers Simon and Andrew,
James and John
who left everything behind to follow
Jesus whom they have found to be
extraordinarily ordinary;
may we find meaning in life
in Jesus your Son in whom
the ordinary is actually the
orderly order of things in life
with you Father always above all.
Amen.

*Photo by author, sunrise at Mt. St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.*

A special prayer for widows

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Hildegard, Virgin & Doctor of Church, 17 September 2024
1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Luke 7:11-17

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompnaied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep” (Luke 7:11-13).

Today, O God our Father,
you remind us of life's fragility, 
of life's daily crossings
into a gate, a portal
of death and life,
of weeping and rejoicing,
of absence and presence
like Jesus drawing near
to the gate of the city of Nain;
you give us each day
a chance to enter each day
filled with life and joy,
love and mercy
of your Son Jesus Christ.

We pray most especially for widows
who have lost everything:
their husband,
their son or daughter,
their joy and meaning in life;
help them cross each day's
gate and portal of their daily Nain;
how lovely that Jesus was 
moved by the widowed mother
not by the dead son to be buried;
many times we forget the living
especially widows
without realizing the unique
pains and hurts they go through
in losing a husband
and a child.

Take care, dear Jesus,
of the widows and widowers too
who often cry alone,
suffer in silence
for their loss;
visit them today with
your warmth and joy
to comfort them with your
loving presence through
their family and friends,
the Church which is your Body.
Through the intercession of the 
great mystic St. Hildegarde von Bingen,
may widows and widowers
experience what she had written that
"The mystery of God hugs you
in its all-encompassing mystery."
Amen.