Tag: prayer

The power and grace from stretched hands

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Tuesday, Wk. XVI, Yr. I, 23 July 2019
Exodus 14:21-15:1 >< }}}*> >< }}}*> Matthew 12:46-50
Holy Family Chapel, Sacred Heart Retreat and Spirituality Center, Novaliches, July 2017.

Thrice in our readings today, O loving Father, we heard “stretching of hands” to impart your power and grace. What a beautiful gesture so that today, we also stretch our hands in praising and thanking you God for all your love and kindness.

Stretching of hands is a gesture we usually do to you and others when we are pleading for something or when we express surrender or submission. We also stretch our hands over people and things to show our power or your power passing through us.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea ,and the Lord swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land…

Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back to the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers.”

Exodus 14:21, 26

In our gospel, when your Son our Lord Jesus Christ identified his family, he used the same gesture to show his grace and blessing of making us his family, making us one in him and with him.

And stretching his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, my sister, my mother.”

Matthew 12:49-50

Keep us always in the protection and care of your powerful and loving hands, Lord, that are always stretched upon the sick especially the bed-ridden and seriously ill, to those who have to work far from their loved ones, those who have to deal and handle with delicate matters and situations.

Continue also to stretch your hands upon us, Lord, to shower us with your blessings especially the fresh graduates, for the newly weds, for those working hard for their families, for those pursuing their stars and dreams with passion and determination, and for those getting tired and weak with their many burdens and load on their shoulders.

Help us also, Lord, to be like you on the Cross when you stretched your hands to express your deep love and mercy for each one of us. Give us that power and grace to stretch our hands in your name to be your instruments of change, healing and joy to everyone especially those in pain and sufferings. Amen.

Holy Family Chapel, Sacred Heart Retreat and Spirituality Center, Novaliches, July 2017.

Remaining in the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Monday, Wk. XVI, Yr. I, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July 2019
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 >< }}}*> >< }}}*> John 20:1-2, 11-18
Jesus telling Mary Magdalene not to touch him in a painting at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy. Photo from Google.

What a beautiful way to start our week of work and studies today with the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, O Lord!

In St. Mary Magdalene we see, O Jesus, your infinite love and mercy and forgiveness no matter how dark is our past. In St. Mary Magdalene we also see, O Jesus, our new life and relationship with you especially when you called her by her name “Mary” on that Easter morning.

Open our hearts every morning, especially when we feel everything is lost, when everything is so dark to that we too may hear your sweet voice calling us by name.

One beautiful lesson we have learned from St. Mary Magdalene is the need to remain in you, Jesus. After being converted, Mary never left your side along with the other women who have come to follow you and help you in your needs.

On the Cross when your disciples have left you, St. Mary Magdalene remained at your foot along with your Mother and beloved disciple John.

On the first day of the week, it was also St. Mary Magdalene who remained faithful to you by coming to your tomb to bring spices and perfume; and, when she found it empty, she was the one who remained faithful to your teachings by informing St. Peter of the situation.

Most of all, during that dark morning at the empty tomb, it was St. Mary Magdalene who remained outside, remaining faithful to you, waiting in tears for developments as she asked everyone around in the hope of finding and retrieving your missing body.

The scene may be funny, Lord, but embarrassing and shameful to us your disciples who always leave you especially when the cross becomes too heavy and bloody! And when everything is dark and empty, unlike St. Mary Magdalene, we are nowhere to be found.

From Google.

Let us remain in you, Jesus, like St. Mary Magdalene especially when everybody else is leaving or had left you at the cross or the empty tomb.

Let us boldly proclaim not only in words but most especially in deeds like St. Mary Magdalene that we have seen you, that we are now a new creation in you. Amen.

St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

We shall “pass over” in the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Friday, Wk. XV, Yr. I, 19 July 2019
Exodus 11:10-12:14 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 12:1-8
Sunset from Bgy. Dapdap, Tagaytay City, 03 July 2019.

Another Friday, another week passing, another new week coming. Thank you so much, O Lord and we are able to move on, to pass over so many challenges and trials.

Every day indeed, O Lord, is an Exodus – a passing over with you leading us, saving us, delivering us from darkness into light, from ignorance into knowledge and wisdom, from sinfulness into grace.

“It is the Passover of the Lord. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast, executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt – I, the Lord!”

Exodus 12:11-12

Keep us always ready to go with you, to follow you in every passing over from our Egypt of slavery into freedom of your Promised Land.

We pray, O God, for those among us who are like the Pharisees in the gospel today who see only your laws and rituals but not YOU.

Open our eyes that we may see the main distinction of your every pass over in us is mercy and love.

Come to us Jesus, the Lord of sabbath, and show us the true meaning of your sacrifice which is to find you more among our brothers and sisters.

Let us rediscover anew the beauty and value of life that comes only from you, especially the people around us regardless of their status, color, and creed.

We pray also for those who are struggling in life, those who find it so difficult to make ends meet, those who have to pass over great distances in life just to survive because we have refused to find you among them. Amen.


Flowers at our altar, 19 July 2019.

When you feel like giving up…

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Thursday, Wk. XV, Yr. I, 18 July 2019
Exodus 3:13-20 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 11:28-30
Taal Lake and Volcano from Tagaytay City. Photo by author, 03 July 2019.

Praise and glory to you, our loving Father for always remembering us, for always loving us. So many times, people doubt you. They feel you do not care at all, that you do not listen to their prayers, that you do not visit them anymore.

We pray today most especially for those losing hope and meaning in life amid their many pains and sufferings, those about to give up on their dreams due to many failures and disappointments, and those who refuse to believe and trust others anymore due to betrayals by family and friends.

Let us be your Moses today to announce to them that you are concerned with us, that you care for us.

“I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Exodus 3:16-17

Open our hearts and our minds to realize this great truth of your concern for us that you have given us your Son Jesus Christ to help us in our burdens, calling us to receive him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day, especially on Sundays.

Our altar, 18 July 2019.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Send us a new Moses, Lord, to lead us out of our modern Egypt today that enslave us, making life so difficult for your people especially those in the margins.

We have become a nation without any sense of sin anymore that we do not care at all with the many deaths going on around us. Our mouths have become so filthy with languages too vile as if you do not exist anymore. Nobody seem to care anymore, no one is concerned.

We pray for our leaders in government as well as in the Church who are like the Pharaoh who make it so hard for the people to go and come to you. Do wondrous deeds among us again, Lord, so we may remember anew that you keep your covenant forever. Amen.

Detaching from self, attaching to God

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Wednesday, Wk. XV, Yr. I, 17 July 2019
Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 >< )))*> >< )))*> Matthew 11:25-27
Mt. Sinai range from St. Katherine Monastery in Egypt. Photo by author, 07 May 2019.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:11

It has always been our answer to your every command and mission given to us, O God our loving Father: “who am I to do this thing?” or “who am I to go there?”

Forgive us for our pride, God, when we ask you such questions with some tinge of sarcasm, or worst, when we seem to dare to make you look so dumb as if you have never thought well of every thing you entrust us with.

Yes, there are times when we ask you that way like Moses when we play god better than you, almighty and living, true, God.

We could not believe and accept that you have planned everything well, that all we need to do is trust you like a child.

Like Moses, O God, tell us to remove our sandals to always remember and be reminded that the whole earth where we stand on is a sacred ground, your very presence among us.

Teach us take off things that detach us from you and prevent us from completely trusting you.

Most of all, take away our pride and fill us with your humility so we may be open to your revelations to fully know your will and how to make it happen. Amen.

Inside of this structure is kept remnants of the burning bush Moses saw at Sinai. 07 May 2019.

Smile upon us, O sweet Lady of Carmel!

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Tuesday, Wk. XV, Yr. I, Feast of Our Lady Of Mt. Carmel, 16 July 2019
Exodus 2:1-15 >< )))*> <*(((>< Matthew 11:20-24
Photo from the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, Los Angeles, California via Google.

O blessed and sweet Mother Mary of Mt. Carmel! Thank you for coming to us to remind us of your Son Jesus Christ’s great love for us.

Like the Pharaoh’s daughter who was “moved with pity” (Ex.2:6) upon finding the child Moses on the river, have pity on us too your children here in our own river of sorrows and darkness.

Pray that we may find life and joy like Moses and family in a river flowing with dangers and destruction.

Pray that we may return to God in Christ Jesus so that we may live through daily conversion and repentance of sins.

O Mother of Mt. Carmel, give us a glance of your sweet smile on this feast day of yours to experience the Father’s immense love and care for us. Amen.

When life gets harder…

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Monday, Wk. XV, Yr. I, 15 July 2019, Feast of St. Bonaventure
Exodus 1:8-14, 22 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 10:34-11:1
The Sphinx and Pyramids of Egypt. Photo by author, 09 May 2019.

It is that time of the year again, Lord, when life gets harder with the rains, with all the expenses piling up along with a hosts of so many other problems besetting us.

Others call these months of July until August as the “ghost months” when so many difficulties come along our way. But of course, we believe more in you.

Like in our Responsorial Psalm today, we sing “Our help is in the name of the Lord.”

Most of all, like the people of Israel living in Egypt long after Joseph had gone who were subjected to cruel slavery by the Pharaoh and his men, “the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread” (Ex.1:12).

Our almighty Father, keep us close to you through your Son Jesus Christ.

Let us rely more to you in him through the Holy Spirit when life gets harder for us.

May we learn more from him so we may follow him closer than ever especially during times of trials and difficulties.

Keep us faithful in Christ for “whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt.10:39).

Amen.

Choosing what is difficult

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Friday, Week XIV, Year I, 12 July 2019
Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 10:16-23
The pyramids of Egypt. Photo by author, 09 May 2019.

It’s a Friday again, loving Father! Thank you very much for guiding us through, assisting us, helping us through many difficulties and challenges this past week. Indeed, you are our only salvation, O Lord!

In this age when everything is so easy and convenient, with almost everything instantly on our fingertips, please remind us Lord that a little difficulties and sacrifices in life can be good for us too.

Crosses like trials and sacrifices are not punishment but actually blessings for they all make us stronger and better as persons.

Give us the courage to choose what is difficult, to be bold and daring in trying new things, leaving our comfort zones and discarding our old ways so that you may continue to surprise us, Lord.

May your words today to Jacob assure and strengthen those having difficulties in making important decisions about changes and movements in their work and residences, career and directions in life.

“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation. Not only will I go down to Egypt with you; I will also bring you back here, after Joseph has closed your eyes.”

Genesis 46:3-4

Fill us with your Holy Spirit, Jesus, that we may be “shrewd as serpents and simple as doves”, not worrying on how to answer our detractors and persecutors (Mt. 10:16, 19).

Let us endure all sufferings and difficulties in your holy name, O Jesus that we may all be saved. Amen.

From Google.

When God writes straight with crooked lines

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Thursday, Wk. XIV, Yr. I, 11 July 2019, Feast of St. Benedict
Genesis 44:18-21, 23-29; 45:1-5 >< )))*> Matthew 10:7-15
CICM Retreat House in Taytay, Rizal. Photo by author September 2009.

Praise and glory to you, O God, our kind and merciful Father! You never fail to amaze us with your immense love and goodness to us, most especially whenever you write in straight crooked lines in our lives.

Nothing bad ever comes from you. But, if ever something that is not good happens to us, you always ensure it could lead to something beautiful and wonderful. Like with what happened to Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold by his brothers but later became an Egyptian official of the Pharaoh.

Our first reading today when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers in Egypt is one of the most moving drama scenes in the whole bible for me. It shows also the tremendous faith and love Joseph has for you and his brothers.

“Come closer to me,” he told his brothers. When they had done so, he said: “I am your brother Joseph, whom you once sold into Egypt. But now do not be distressed, and do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here. It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you.”

Genesis 45:4-5

Increase our faith in you, God, especially when things do not turn out according to our plans and wishes. Let us trust in you that despite our many failures and sins, you will never abandon us to be devoured by the beasts of the forests.

On this feast of St. Benedict, we borrow his prayer for seekers of faith that we may be worthy of our call as Apostles of Jesus sent to “proclaim the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.10:7).

Gracious and Holy Father,

give us the wisdom to discover You,

the intelligence to understand You,

the diligence to seek after You,

the patience to wait for You,

eyes to behold You,

a heart to meditate upon You,

and a life to proclaim You,

through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

From Google.

Coming together in the Lord

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Wednesday,Week XIV, Year I, 10 July 2019
Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7, 17-24 >< )))*> Matthew 10:1-7
Pyramids of Egypt. Photo by author, 09 May 2019.

Thank you very much, our loving Father, for making us all come together as family and friends, colleagues and acquaintances on many occasions you have planned in all eternity in your infinite wisdom.

Like the sons of Israel who have come to Egypt to buy food during a famine and the 12 Apostles summoned by your Son Jesus, our coming together for various reasons in different seasons were all caused by your divine will.

The sons of Israel did not know how their coming into Egypt would reunite them with their lost brother Joseph they have maltreated and sold a long time ago. The 12 Apostles never had an inkling at that time how they would be betrayed by one of their very own that they welcomed each other as disciples of Jesus.

In your time, God, you perfectly know when and where and how we would meet the many people we now have in our lives.

Give us the grace to always seek your holy will, your grand design and plan with the people who come to our lives. Let us take care of them as precious gifts of family and friends you give us, let us shower them with your love and attention while still around us. May we never take them for granted, value them always as they value us too as gifts coming from you.

Let us not take them into someone not meant to be in our lives.

We pray also for people without friends and family around them, for those in far and distant lands working away from their loved ones, for those languishing in jails especially the innocent one that they may soon be reunited with their family.

Most of all, our loving Father, may we always see your face on every person we shall meet this day. Amen.

With our fellow pilgrims at the Sphinx in Egypt, 09 May, 2019.