Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest, 26 May 2026
1 Peter 1:18-25  ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>  Mark 10:32-45

God our loving Father,
as we slowly move into Ordinary Time
in our Church calendar that began yesterday,
delete from our thoughts,
from our orientations,
from our consciousness 
the idea of anything called "ordinary"
as something less important,
less in value because it is
usual,
plain
and simple.
Ordinary.

Make us realize the word "ordinary"
implies orderliness
and regularity,
from the Latin root that
literally means "rule."

Make us realize, 
O Lord,
that the ordinary days,
the ordinary people,
and whatever we refer to as ordinary
actually make up the bulk of our lives
with You, O God,
the Supreme Ordinary of our lives!

Make us realize that whoever
or whatever we deem as ordinary
is the rule of the day -
so, let us stop 
taking them for granted
like leading our lives in You,
according to Your will,
witnessing Jesus Christ 
who had come to show us
the value and dignity
of our being human 
because it is the path,
the rule to fulfillment,
to life and to meaning
as St. Philip Neri 
realized early in his life
in turning away from a life
of ease and comfort
by embracing
then priesthood.

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come” (Mark 10:29-30).

Finally,
teach me,
dear Jesus,
to have this regularity of life,
of having order in my life
that begins and ends in You
because you have come to make me
and everyone truly special
by being closer to the Father
through one another. Amen.