The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of the Presentations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 2024 Zechariah 2:14-17 <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]*> Matthew 12:46-50
God our loving Father, on this memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we offer ourselves too to you, our Lord and Master.
May our lives always reflect the joys of being your children like the festive mood of the first reading when you told Israel to "sing and rejoice" on their liberation from bondage; may we always realize the great honor and privilege of being your children through Jesus Christ who became one of us so that we may become like Him.
Most of all, like Mary our Mother, may we offer ourselves totally to your loving service by listening, dwelling, and acting on your words; may our lives be an "enfleshing" an "enfleshment" of your word so that it is You dear Jesus who is seen and experienced through us like Mary. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-Third Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 20 November 2024 Revelation 4:1-11 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Luke 19:11-28
Photo by author, sunrise in Dumaguete City, 11 November 2024.
How lovely are your words these past days, dear Lord, of Bartimaeus gaining his sight and Zacchaeus being raised in his stature before you in his conversion.
We are Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus!
Grant us, Jesus vision more than sight to see beyond material things so that we may aspire always to rise above our many shortness in life.
Open our hearts and our minds like John to experience a vision of God, of heaven amid all the darkness and sufferings in this life.
I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards” (Revelation 4:1).
You are beyond descriptions, God our Father like what John saw in his vision; teach us to submit ourselves to You in prayer and silence than manipulate who You really are so beyond understanding!
“He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.'” After Jesus had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem (Luke 19:26-28).
Like Zacchaeus yesterday, he realized that to rise in one's stature is actually to go down, to be humble to allow Jesus raise us up in His loving mercy; take away our worldly thoughts about "Jerusalem" and learn to lose ourselves in You, Jesus, to truly see the glory awaiting us in You. Amen.
Photo by author, Bohol Sea from Salum Dive Resort, Dauin, Negros Or., 10 November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 November 2024 Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop & Doctor of the Church 2 John 4-9 <*{{{{>< +++ ><}}}}*> Luke 17:26-37
Photo by author, 20 August 2024, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Tagaytay City.
Another short letter for our first reading today, Jesus but filled with wonder and power that impacts our daily life: help us to keep your love Lord! The words of your beloved disciple are strikingly so true to us these days:
Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son (2 John 9).
Forgive us, dear Jesus, with our so many excuses and alibis along with our endless arguments for the sake of being modern and progressive to be excused from your only law and command which is to love; let us love always for to love is live in your presence; without love, there is disorder and sin, and fear; with love, there is true freedom to be who we truly are as children of the Father.
Therefore, open our eyes that we may consider the wonders of your laws, O Lord (Psalm 119:18). Amen.
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, Negros Or., 07 November 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 14 November 2024 Philemon 7-20 <*[[[[>< + + + ><]]]]*> Luke 17:20-25
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera at Banff, Canada, August 2024.
Refresh my heart today, Jesus; refresh my heart that has become hard like a stone because of the many pains and hurts; refresh my heart, Lord, that has become numb to the cries and pleas of others in pain; refresh my heart, Jesus, that has turned away from you because of many disappointments; please refresh my heart, dear Lord because I am so tired of being by myself.
Like Philemon, I feel life has been so unfair, with me asking like Jeremiah in the Old Testament, "why should doing good be repaid with evil?"; and yes, like St. Paul, many times I find the gospel so difficult to balance with the ways and realities of the world that like the computer, I need to be "refreshed" in you, Jesus to be truly responsive and faithful to you.
Refresh me in you alone, Jesus, for you are the only one who is our life and meaning; you are the kingdom of God within I refuse to reign over me due to sin; refresh me in you, Jesus, by being faithful to you in my prayer life, of making time, of keeping our time together instead of looking for your many physical signs when all along, you have always been in me if I just stop and be silent to let you refresh me; refresh me, Jesus so I may also refresh others in you. Amen.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, an orange-bellied flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma), December 2023.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 13 November 2024 Titus 3:1-7 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by author, 20 August 2024, St. Scholastica Retreat House, Tagaytay City.
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another” (Titus 3:3).
What a beautiful reminder by St. Paul to his co-worker in the Lord, Titus, and to us in this modern age; Oh, how often are we all foolish, disobedient, and deluded, too?
That word struck me today, Lord: deluded which is to suffer from delusion which is to believe in something not true! And that's the great tragedy in these days of modern communications when information is easily accessible, when facts can be quickly verified if true or not but, why do we remain deluded that St. Paul rightly noted, we are "hateful ourselves, hating one another"?
Proof? Our being ungrateful. Our refusal to express gratitude like the nine lepers cleansed of leprosy by Jesus; only one, a Samaritan returned to Jesus and thanked Him for the healing: forgive us Jesus when so often in life it is easier for us to believe in things not true at all than to accept and embrace simple truths in life like that we are loved, that we are good, that You believe in us; clear us of our built-in biases against ourselves that delude us and blur our vision of others; teach us to be more appreciative of simple joys and pleasures in life.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 10 November 2024 1 Kings 17:10-16 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 9:24-28 ><}}}}*> Mark 12:38-44
Our Sunday readings are so lovely, so picturesque where you find in both first reading and gospel the character of a poor widow standing side by side with great men of faith in God as the main focus, the Prophet Elijah and Christ Jesus, respectively.
In the first reading, we find humorously the Prophet Elijah asking for water, then some bread from a widow gathering sticks outside her home in Zarephath.
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid… For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'” She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah (1 Kings 17:13, 14-16).
Elijah had fled Israel after proclaiming a drought because the people turned away from God to worship baals or false gods brought by the wife of King Ahab, Queen Jezebel. God then directed Elijah to Zarephath outside the city of Sidon to hide where the king was the father of his archenemy, Queen Jezebel!
Imagine Elijah hiding in the most hostile place of all with a pagan widow who worshipped baal so denounced by him. But, here is a marvelous story of faith of Elijah who trusted God completely in obeying Him to move to the pagan region ruled by his enemies. Similar was the faith of the pagan widow who surprisingly believed Elijah and God’s power that she did not mind putting her life and her son’s at risk in harboring their enemy. Their admirable faith both remind us how God accomplishes His great acts of mercy and love when we surrender ourselves totally to Him.
Photo by author, Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.
Nine hundred years later after Elijah, we had Jesus in Jerusalem like the prophet in a very hostile place and situation too – in the Temple that was the very domain of His enemies. This was the Holy Week after Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday leading to Good Friday.
And like Elijah who approached a widow worshipper of baal, Jesus dared to sit at the temple area after harshly castigating the scribes there:
He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, all her livelihood” (Mark 12:41-44).
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Throughout this week, that scene of Jesus seated at the Temple had so absorbed me. What was Mark trying to tell us in reporting this? Jesus seated at the temple opposite the treasury observing the crowd is something else.
See the genius of Mark in weaving this Sunday’s gospel scene: right after castigating the corrupt leaders of Israel who were affiliated with the temple, Mark segued into this poor widow dropping some coins into the treasury box. In ancient Israel, the poor like the widows were not required to give those contributions. In a stroke of genius, Mark tells us something is wrong in this scene which Jesus rightly attacked because that widow was one of those widows whose house was devoured by the scribes!
“The Widow’s Mite” painting by French painter James Tissot, from brooklynmuseum.org.
And Mark never intended the story only for the Christians of his time but also for us as we have continued in the Church that malpractice by priests and scribes of Jerusalem. Woe to us priests and bishops who go around in “long robes and accept greetings, seats of honor” and worst of all, “devour houses of widows”, forgetting the poor, preferring always to be with the rich and powerful that social media attest.
Like Zarephath and the Jerusalem Temple, there is Jesus sitting in the middle of our Church under attack on all fronts and within in order to be closer with us especially the widows and the poor who are victims of an unjust society and systems perpetrated by same men and women supposed to be servants of God, or, at least men and women of God.
Photo by author, July 2024.
That image of Jesus seated at the Temple opposite the treasury was in fact a reminder of His being the victim too of injustice in the temple like the poor widow, of His Crucifixion on Good Friday. In fact, the 30 pieces of silver the priests have paid Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus must have come from that treasury.
In the midst of the hostilities and hurts, the divisions and abuses of power by priests and lay alike, in the Jerusalem Temple then and now in our Church, there has always been Jesus sitting among us, observing our offerings after first offering Himself for us all as our perfect High Priest (second reading) who finally freed us from these injustices and inhumanity of the past.
That is why I love this scene so much.
More than tithing, Jesus tells us this Sunday that like that generous heart of the poor widow, despite her plight, she continued to give because she believed, she hoped, most of all, she loved God. She need not give but still insisted because the treasury was for the upkeep of the temple, the very house of God, therefore, for God Himself.
There are times I hurt deep inside for the pains of the many scandals some priests and bishops have caused the Church but I choose to remain, even to sit in this Church or be a victim like Jesus amid all these because I love Jesus. Yes, amid all these sorrows, there is one “first” I see above all, Jesus Christ. This is concretization of last Sunday’s “which is the first of the commandments” – God who is love above all!
Jesus is telling us this Sunday through the poor widow that it is recognizing God in us and in one another that matters, and that is why we give at all.
Photo by author, 2022.
If we love God, if we find God in us and in others, when we find Jesus seated among us, then we realize we are the Church, we are the Temple we love. The moment we realize this, the more we feel at home “sitting with Jesus in the temple”, then we start giving totally because we love as well as know for a fact that whatever we give is actually what we receive from God in Jesus.
Why give so little? Give all, give everything because you never have anything to begin with! Everything is from God. That is why it is in giving that we truly receive. In every Mass, we do not give anything except our mere presence that is not even complete and yet, we get abundant blessings, primarily Jesus Christ whom we receive wholly, Body and Blood.
In every Mass we celebrate, we sit with Jesus in the midst of this inhospitable world we live in, even right in the church we love and hate sometimes. We do not give up. We persevere because we believe, we trust, we hope. Most of all, we love like Elijah and Jesus and believe like the poor widows of Zarephath and Jerusalem Temple. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead!
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-7 ng Nobyembre 2024
First time ko sa Dumaguete City.
Kabilin-bilinan ng mommy ko noong bata pa ako na basta first time ko saan mang lugar, una kong pupuntahan ang simbahan.
Kaya kanina pagdatng dito sa Dumaguete, una kong hinanap ang simbahan kahit ako ay nagugutom na. Nakakatuwa may kasabay din kaming mga panauhin at iyon din ang pakay nila bagamat inuna ang sikmura bago bumaba ang sugar.
Pagdating doon sa Katedral ni Santa Catherine ng Alexandria, ito ang eksenang bumungad sa akin.
Noong bata pa ako, magkahalong takot at pagkamangha aking nadarama tuwing isasama ako ng aking lola sa Quiapo at makakita ng maraming ganito magdasal – lumalakad ng paluhod.
Sa paglipas ng panahon, unti-unti nang nawala mga eksenang ito hanggang sa makakita ako muli kanina sa katedral ng Dumaguete.
Kay sarap pagmasdan at pagnilayan yaong mama na lumakad paluhod sa kanyang pagrorosaryo.
Sa panahong ito ng social media na lahat gusto siya ang bida, nawala na itong pagluhod na tanda ng pagpapakababa sa Diyos na higit na dakila sa lahat.
Ni hindi na rin nga alam ng karamihan ang pag-genuflect o pagluhod ng isang tuhod o “one-hod” kung aking tawagin bago pumasok ng upuan ng simbahan o “pew” tanda ng pag galang at pagkilala sa kasagraduhan ng lunan.
Ilang taon na nakakalipas pinuna ni Obispo Soc Villegas ang nawawalang gawi ng pagluhod ng mga tao; sa halip aniya, tayo ay nagiging “clap generation” – dinaraan ang lahat sa palakpakan. Sabi nga sa akin kamakailan ng isang kaibigan hindi raw niya maintindihan mga pari na magsasabi lang ng amen ay magpapalakpakan nang walang humpay mga tao. “I cannot”, eka niya.
Nanalangin ako ng ilang sandali sa katedral ng Dumaguete ng nakaluhod bago tumayo upang magtanghalian. Para na kasi akong nanghihina…
Hindi ba isang kabalintunaan kung pagninilayan, ang pagluhod ay tanda rin ng lakas ng katawan at tatag ng kalooban? Bakit nga ba tayo ngayon, sa dami ng mga gamot at pagkain, tila mahina pa rin, hindi na makaluhod para manalangin? Gaya nung mama na aking nakita, tila napakalakas pa rin niya at kayang-kaya pa ring lumakad paluhod.
O, iyon ding pagluhod niya ng madalas ang sa kanya nagpalakas?
Kasabay ko siya natapos sa pagdarasal. Hindi ko na siya kinunan ng larawan taglay kanyang aral ng kababaang-loob sa Diyos. At sa kapwa. Oras nang lumuhod. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 November 2024 Philippians 2:12-18 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 14:25-33
Photo by author, Fatima Ave., Valenzuela City, 25 July 2024.
Grant me, dear Jesus the serenity and composure of St. Paul: so peaceful, so dignified, so free in the face of death.
Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life… But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me (Philippians 2:14-16, 17-18).
Many times O Lord the burdens are too heavy and unbearable, with pains and suffering so overwhelming that I really wonder if I would make any difference at all; but, you are always here present in the "nick of time" sending people reminding me of jokes I have long forgotten but still tickle them; or simple lessons I could not recall but they have kept and guided them through life; or music I made them listened to that have lingered in their heads; or books and poems that have opened their horizons.
Teach me, Jesus to renounce everything I have, empty me of my pride, of my self to be filled with you only so that I may truly shine like light in this world so at home and fascinated with neons and klieg lights that mislead them to darkness. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Thirty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 05 November 2024 Philippians 2:5-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 14:15-24
Photo by author somewhere in Pampanga, 17 September 2024.
One of those at table with Jesus said to him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came,he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves” (Luke 14:15-18).
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ for our endless excuses and countless alibis in not answering your calls nor accepting your invitations; we make so many excuses and alibis, citing various reasons because we cannot be sincere enough to tell you we have other plans, we follow other gods, we believe and trust others than you, Lord.
What a shame at times, dear Jesus when our excuses and alibis do not even hold nor could stand tests and yet, you accept them so that we would not be put to shame; forgive us, Jesus, when our perception and understanding of your kingdom is something of going up, of being on high as we it in the world so magnified by social media these days; open our eyes and our hearts to see that your path has always been to go down, to be little, to be humble which is the way of Kenosis, of self-emptying. Amen.
Brothers and sisters: Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself… (Philippians 2:5-7).
Photo by author somewhere in Pampanga, 17 September 2024.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 27 October 2024 Jeremiah 31:7-9 ><}}}}*> Hebrews 5:1-6 ><}}}}*> Mark 10:46-52
Photo by author, Nagsasa Cove, San Antonio, Zambales, 19 October 2024.
“Seeing” is a word with so many meanings for us. More than its literal sense of having eyesight, “seeing” is used as a metaphor like referring to understanding when we say “I see your point” or poetically as in to see with one’s heart.
Filipino mothers have a very funny, unique expressing about seeing when telling us children to look for something that if we could not find it, every Nanay fumes with a warning saying, “kapag hindi mo nakita iyan, makikita mo sa akin!”
Whatever that means, it shows “seeing” reveals to us a lot about ourselves and others, of life and most especially of God.
Illustration from linkedin.com.
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me”… he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him”… Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way (Mark 10:46-48, 49, 51-52).
See Mark’s gift in storytelling in this second crucial teaching by Jesus on discipleship sandwiched between His third prediction of His Pasch and entrance to Jerusalem.
See the contrast between James and John “wanting” fame and power by seating beside Jesus in glory and Bartimaeus “wanting” to see Jesus: the brothers were rejected after being told “you do not know what you are asking” whereas the beggar’s plea was granted after asking him “what do you want me to do for you?”
Clearly, this is about what we see in Jesus, of how ironic like James and John that we who have eyesight and closer to Jesus do not have the vision of a blind beggar like Bartimaeus asking to see more of Jesus, more of faith, more of life!
The scene has many layers so beautifully assembled together by Mark for us to see beyond our sight in order to have a clearer vision of discipleship and ultimately of God in eternal life.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But the more he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Photo by author, Jericho City, the Holy Land, May 2019.
Though blind, Bartimaeus “saw” Jesus, calling Him “Son of David” which is the messianic title of the coming Savior so awaited by the Jewish people. It is a title so unique among them, referred with David in the Old Testament being their greatest king and deliverer. Jeremiah tells us in the first reading today of how “the Lord has delivered his people… gathering the blind and the lame” (Jer. 31:7,8) now fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
How amazing that Bartimaeus without eyesight staying at the sides of the road of Jericho being able to “see” Jesus as his Savior, asking most especially the vision to see eternity like that man who approached Jesus two Sundays ago. The big difference is that Bartimaeus was convinced of his faith in Jesus based on what have heard about Him.
Very crucial here are the cries of Bartimaeus to Jesus as “Son of David”. See how the crowds around him tried to silence him but the more he shouted aloud to Jesus. That is more than persistence in prayer but a conviction in the very person of Jesus as Savior, as Messiah, as God, truly a Brother and a Friend.
Bartimaeus reminds us to go back to Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked the Twelve and us everyday, “who do you that I am?” Our answer to that question is essential because it is on that conviction and faith in Jesus where our prayers and prayer life itself are essentially hinged on. Now, compare what James and John saw in Jesus last Sunday with their request and with what the blind Bartimaeus saw in asking for his sight.
When we truly know Jesus, then we know what we want from Him. Many times in life, when we feel so blinded, when everything seems so dark we could not see where we are, who our friends are, when all we can do is simply cry like Bartimaeus, whispering Jesus, Jesus… that is when we unconsciously see Him right beside us.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 2020.
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging... And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
See my dear friends how in this scene those traveling with Jesus looked upon Bartimaeus as an interruption on the journey to Jerusalem. It seemed like a distraction but the truth is, Jesus saw Bartimaeus as the very point itself of His journey!
We have seen this year how Jesus visited even the most unlikely places of pagan territories, of where lepers are even Samaritans to heal and speak to them. Jesus is always passing by in our lives but, are we there to meet Him?
Recall those failures and disasters that punctuated our lives, when we saw them as distractions and interruptions that have delayed and even set aside many of our plans, but, look now how those disasters were actually providential that led us to success.
When we review our lives, we see God truly writing straight with crooked lines with those countless times when He turned our failures into triumphs, sadness into joy, losses into gains. It was during those blinding moments in life when we were actually able to see clearly our selves, our family and friends, and most especially, God in Jesus Christ.
This is what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews is telling us in the second reading, of Jesus the Son of God, our eternal high priest exceedingly better and perfect than any high priest “able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness” (Heb. 5:2). Jesus is the Son of God who transforms not only water into wine or bread into His Body but most especially us like the blind Bartimaeus into whole persons again. The key is to keep our sights on Him, to see Him more clearly so that we can follow Him closely.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 2020.
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus today is asking us too, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would our request be? What do we want? Jesus wants us to focus our sights to Him alone.
Discipleship is never about us but always Jesus, only Jesus who invites this Sunday to take a sincere look into ourselves like Bartimaeus, without alibis and excuses to root out whatever that keeps us from seeing Him truly like self-centeredness and selfishness or preoccupation with wealth and fame, or pleasures and comfort.
To see Jesus truly like Bartimaeus is to be like a child, to die into one’s self by “throwing aside” whatever we have, “springing up to come to Jesus”. That is when we discover too that the more we see Jesus, the more we realize that Jesus gives us more than what we ask Him because He is actually never far from us especially when we cry out to Him!
To see Jesus truly like Bartimaeus is to leave the sides and walk the main roads with Jesus to Jerusalem, up to His crucifixion. In doing so, we must learn to always stop for others struggling in their blindness to see Jesus too.
Most of all, to see Jesus like Bartimaeus is to keep on asking Him, “Master, I want to see” so that we keep on experiencing a new way of seeing Jesus in life’s many complexities these days that have rendered so many of us blinded by the enticing lures of the world. Amen.And, see yah! Have a new way of seeing life and others this week in Jesus!
Photo by the author, Pundaquit Mountains in San Antonio, Zambales at the back of Nagsasa Cove, 19 October 2024.
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