Tag: prayer

The gift of touch

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Week IV, Year II in Ordinary Time, 01 February 2022
2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30-19:3   >>> + <<<   Mark 5:21-43
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.
As I thank you
God our loving Father
for this brand new month
of February, I pray only
for one thing:  let me touch
you and please, please
touch me too!

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Mark 5:25, 27-29
If I could reach you
and do the same, Lord,
I would have done it a long time ago;
let me touch you in Jesus
among the poor and the sick,
among the fearful and lost,
among those crying in so many
pains and hurts.
Most of all, let me touch you, Lord,
in my loneliness, in my pains,
in my emptiness, in my weakness;
it is what touches me most, 
Lord:  when you search
for me despite my sins;
when like the dying daughter 
of Jairus, you take my hands
and lift me up again to stand
and walk with the same feeble
legs and feet; and when deep inside,
in your loving embrace, 
I realize how the Father weeps
for us sinners like David wept 
for the death of Absalom.
That is the most touching of all -
your divine touches, Lord:  
when like David in all his humanity
despite the sins against him by
his own son Absalom, he was
deeply hurt and sad at his death
because that shows the deeper
meaning of touching - that we are
all one, we are all linked together
in you and with you who is our 
source and our end.  Amen.

Action vs. Reaction

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest, 31 January 2022
2 Samuel 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13   ><)))*> + <*(((><   Mark 5:1-20
Photo by author, 2020.
God our loving Father,
give us the grace to ACT more
than to REACT to many people and
situations that come our way.
Give us the grace to accept the
truth no matter how painful it may be;
likewise, give us the grace 
to simply ignore falsehoods thrown
at us especially if it will not cost us 
anything serious at all.
Like King David in our first
reading today, make us realize
that our reactions, our hitting back
at others accusing us do not necessarily
protect our dignity but actually 
reveal our many insecurities;
many times, our reactions bare 
our sensitivities or touchiness that
we really deserve even more than
what is being said about us.

Then the king said to Abishai and to all his servants: “If my own son, who came forth from my loins, is seeking my life, how much more might this Benjaminite do so! Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and make it up to me with benefits for the curses he is uttering this day.” David and his men continued on the road, while Shimei kept abreast of them on the hillside, all the while cursing and throwing stones and dirt as he went.

2 Samuel 16:11-13
Teach us to act decisively
in every situation, especially 
against evil like your Son,
Jesus Christ:  the moment he
came to the Gerasenes and met
the man possessed by demon, 
Mark tells us how "He had been 
saying to him, 'Unclean spirit,
come out of the man!'" (Mk.5:8);
when the people drove him out of
their town for sending the demons 
into a herd of swine, off he went
for he knew it was best; most of all,
when the exorcised man begged
to join him, he sent him home to his
family.
Like your great Saint, Don Bosco,
who early in life faced so many 
obstacles in life up to his priesthood,
he never reacted to adverse situations 
and people but kept his cool,
always cheerful in his disposition, 
acted only on your divine will, winning 
so many hearts and souls to Jesus 
in his work among the youth 
and the poor that continues to
this day.  Amen.

When evil overtakes us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest & Doctor of the Church, 28 January 2022
2 Samuel 11:1-4, 5-10, 13-17   ><]]]]*> + <*[[[[><   Mark 4:26-34
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, 25 January 2022.
Why do we always try to "imprison"
or keep you in a place, God our Father?
Why, despite our faith and knowledge
of your power and might, we insist on 
trying to entrap you in the hope we can
get away with our evil deeds or sins?
Praying over the first reading for today
on how King David committed his first 
grave sins against you, I could see myself
in him overpowered by evil during those
instances when I thought you were out
or far from my side not to see my sins:

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign, David sent out Joab along with his officers and the army of Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. David, however, remained in Jerusalem (while the ark of the covenant was lodged in tents while his soldiers fought the Ammonites, cf. v. 11).

2 Samuel 11:1
What happened with David that
after getting Bathsheba pregnant,
he tried to dupe her husband Uriah
by luring him to sleeping with his wife
that when it did not work, he had him
positioned in a battle to die and get away
with his sins?
How sad and so shameful when we,
like David, fall into a series of sins we
thought we could get under control
only to find ourselves imprisoned
in the darkness of evil.
Make us realize, Lord, the enduring
truth of your powerful and silent 
presence even in the darkest night
when nothing seems to happen:

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God: It is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise, night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.”

Mark 4:26-27
"Grant me, O Lord my God", 
as St. Thomas Aquinas would 
pray to you: 
"a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you."
Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas,
Pray for us!

Most powerful prayer is when we are weakest

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week III, Year II in Ordinary Time, 27 January 2022
2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29   <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*>   Mark 4:21-25
“Losing one’s head in prayer”, photo by Ms. JJ Jimeno, GMA-7 News, May 2019.
God our Father,
thank you for the gift 
of prayer, for the grace
and chance to feel and hear
you, experience you, be
blessed by you at prayer.
Let us always be still before you,
Lord, especially in prayer; free us
from so many thoughts of worrying
about you like building or having a 
"suitable" place to experience you
in prayer like King David who planned
a temple for you.
After listening from your words
through the prophet Nathan,
David realized the most powerful
prayer to you is when we are weakest:

After Nathan had spoken to King David, the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, Lord God, and who are the members of my house, that you have brought me to this point? Yet even this you see as too little, Lord God; you have also spoken of the house of your servant for a long time to come: this too you have shown to man, Lord God!”

2 Samuel 7:18-19
What a beautiful prayer
and disposition by David
your servant, Lord; this early
in his reign as King, he had
shown his most wonderful 
trait before you - humility,
always accepting his weakness
and limitations, always aware
that the fulfillment of your
promise depends entirely on
you, O God; and, that he is just
a fragile instrument in the process.
This would continue in moments of
his great sins later in life, of having
a humble and contrite heart always.
Help us to appreciate, dear Father,
our feebleness, our being like a 
flickering lamp that still gives light
in the darkness; may we realize
that it is during our weakest moments
when you can achieve the most
in us and through us for as St. Paul
had said, "when I am weak then I
am strong" (2 Cor.12:10)!  Amen.

Stiring into flame God’s gifts to us

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of Sts. Titus & Timothy, Bishops, 26 January 2022
2 Timothy 1:1-8   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 10:1-9
Photo from Facebook April 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the Joy, the joy of the Risen Lord.”
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father,
in sending us the great 
apostle St. Paul whose feast
of conversion we celebrated
yesterday!  His life and teachings
continue to loom above us this
day as we celebrate the memorial
of his two close associates, Saints
Timothy and Titus.

…to Timothy, my dear child: as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and that I am confident lives also in you. For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:1, 5-7
O God, so many times we complain
of the young generation for so many
things like loyalty and dedication, 
commitment and responsibilities
without examining our very selves
as their elders or adults ahead of them:
how I envy St. Paul to be able to say those
words to Timothy while remembering the 
witnessing to faith by his grandmother Lois
and mother Eunice who were all guided
and shepherded by the great Apostle!
Before we expect too much from those
younger to us, teach us to be humble and
sincere:  what have we taught and lived by
example to them?  Have we been like 
St. Paul who was so full of zeal and enthusiasm
in preaching the Good News to everyone, 
in season and out of season?
Dearest Jesus, you are the one
who calls and sends us to announce
"The Kingdom of God is at hand" 
(Lk.10:9), stir into flame in us your gifts
of witnessing to your values of love, 
peace and justice in a world so 
abundantly rich in things but 
miserably poor in meanings;
awaken us, O Lord, young and old
alike, to the urgency of your mission.
Amen.

Praying for unity

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 24 January 2022
2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10   ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Mark 3:22-30
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima of GMA-7 News, 18 January 2022.
Bless us, dear God our Father,
with the gift of unity among us -
in the family, in the community,
in office and in school, even in the
church; how sad that with the recent
surge of COVID-19, we have forgotten
the Church's annual Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity that closes tomorrow.
Like your servant King David, 
let us always seek you, God our Father
to be the very center and foundation
of our lives; like David, may we find 
you among one another as our kin -
"our bone and our flesh" - and never 
forget to serve you like a shepherd
to his flock.
Unlike the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem to accuse Jesus of driving out
demons by the power of Beelzebul, let us
not be instruments of divisions and 
fragmentations but of peace and unity.
May we heed the teachings of St. Francis
de Sales that in whatever situations we happen 
to be, may we always aspire to the life of
perfection through the practice of devotion
in different ways proper to our calling.  Amen.

The nobility of respect

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, 21 January 2022
1 Samuel 24:3-21   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Mark 3:13-19
Photo by Dr. Myelene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
Just the other day, Wednesday,
you invited us, God our Father, 
to examine how we "look at each
other", what do we really see in the
other person:  friend or a foe, 
companion or rival, good or evil?*
Today, you teach us to always
"respect" one another despite 
each one's flaws and sins, especially
those in authority above us; after all,
to "respect" is "to look again" to the 
other person, from Latin words
"re" (again) + "specere" (to look/see).
So many times, we fail to respect one
another because we have refused to see
or look at them as a brother or a sister,
most especially as your anointed authority
above us or at least find your image and
likeness in each one of us.

David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked back, David bowed to the ground in homage and asked Saul: “Why do you listen to those who say, ‘David is trying to harm you?’ You see for yourself today that the Lord just now delivered you into my grasp in the cave. I had some thought of killing you, but I took pity on you instead. I decided, ‘I will not raise a hand against my lord for he is the Lord’s anointed and a father to me.’ Look here at this end of your mantle which I hold . Since I cut off an end of your mantle and did not kill you, see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion.'”

1 Samuel 24:9-12
Make us like David, full of nobility
in his respect even to an enemy!
While it is a given that we must respect
one another as your beloved children,
O God, perhaps respect is truly earned
most by the one giving respect to
someone who had lost respect to 
others and self!
Enable us to imitate your Son
Jesus Christ full of respect to the
Twelve men he had chosen to be
his apostles even if he knew they were
of diverse backgrounds and most of all,
one of them would betray him.
But, that is respect to the highest
degree, Lord, when you choose
to always respect us and our choices
in life.
O blessed St. Agnes, martyred
at so young an age, pray for us
to be always pure like you, 
respectful before God and everyone,
including our persecutors!  Amen.

*https://lordmychef.com/2022/01/18/how-do-we-look-at-each-other/

The evil that is jealousy

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Week II, Year II in Ordinary Time, 20 January 2022
1 Samuel 18:6-9, 19:1-7   ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'> ><]]]]'>   Mark 3:7-12
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2018.

Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: “They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.

1 Samuel 18:8-9
God our loving Father,
today you present to us the
very familiar feeling of jealousy
we experience in our relationships 
when we feel and fear losing 
something or someone we already have; 
it is an unpleasant feeling that creeps 
into us when we think someone 
is trying to take what is already ours -
like Saul who felt David was trying
to steal the kingship from him.  
But what is most evil with jealousy
is how it makes us so obsessed with 
how we compare ourselves with others,
competing with people close to us
we perceive as rivals when they are not!
Teach us to be at home with our
true selves, with who we really are,
that we are good and adequate in ourselves; 
like Jesus Christ who was 
being pressed by people for his 
teaching prowess and power to heal,
give us the grace to always be ready
to go out to the sea to see our worth
before you our Father who loves us so
much in our very own uniqueness lest
our jealousies lead us to more harmful
evils and sins.  Amen.

How do we look at each other?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Week II, Year II in Ordinary Time, 19 January 2022
1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51   ><)))*> + <*(((><   Mark 3:1-6
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, 2020.
Your words today, O Lord, 
invite me to examine and reflect
sincerely how do I look at others, 
what do I think, what do I search
on others I meet or encounter?

With his shield bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. When he had sized David up, and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he held David in contempt.

1 Samuel 17:41-42
Forgive us, dear God our Father
when so often we "size" up everyone
we meet, when we always try competing
with everyone, examining their outward
appearances to compare them with our
very selves, with our competencies and 
abilities, or records and backgrounds.

Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.

Mark 3:1-2
But the most unkindest look we make
at others is when we condition ourselves
at finding faults and sins and slightest malice
against others for whatever they do;  what
a shame when our hearts and minds "see"
evil when what our eyes truly "see" is all good.
How difficult it must be for you, merciful Jesus,
to experience it happening even among us who 
claim to be your disciples and followers, that until
now you are "filled with anger and grieving 
for our hardness of heart" (Mk.3:5).
Cleanse our minds and our hearts to find your
image and likeness in everyone we meet,
purify our biases with others so we start
to mean what we keep on hearing
and saying to one another, 
"may the Lord be with you".
Amen.

The problem with our insistence

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Week I, Year II in Ordinary Time, 14 January 2022
1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22   ><]]]]*> + <*[[[[><   Mark 2:1-12
Photo by author, ruins at Capernaum where Jesus healed the paralytic, May 2017.
Today, O Lord, I remember
those days when I insisted on
what I wanted, without giving any
moment to dwell on your plans
and suggestions.
Today, dear God our Father,
your words clearly show us how 
so apart are our thoughts and 
your thoughts, of how wide and
encompassing at how you see
everything and everyone
compared to our very limited
and shallow perceptions that 
are too little, hence, easier to insist on.

The people however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said, “Not so! There must be a king over us. We, too, must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles.” When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say, he repeated it to the Lord, who then said to him, “Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them.”

1 Samuel 8:19-22
Widen our horizons to see
how you have made us in fact
different from others, so special and
beloved to be close to you and yet,
like those people to Samuel, we would
always insist to be just like others.
And the saddest part of belittling our
stature is how we also try to bring you
down to our own level:

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?” Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth.” He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

Mark 2:6-11
Raise up our thoughts
and understanding, Lord Jesus!
Let us "level up" and "shift" to
your thoughts and the way you see
persons and situations that lead us
to claim our freedom from sins and 
evil that have trapped us for so long
despite your victory since your rising
from the dead; open our eyes and our
hearts, Jesus, to see the new realities,
our restored dignity as beloved children
of the Father in you so that we stop 
insisting with our little and unworthy
causes and demands.  Amen.