The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of the Passion of John the Baptist, 29 August 2024 Jeremiah 1:17-19 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Mark 6:17-29
Photo from catholicworldreport.com, “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist” (1869) by Pierre Puvis de Chevannes.
A precursor of the Lord's birth, a precursor of the Lord's death. What a great task you have entrusted, O God, to John the Baptist and to us as well; many times, we forget this role of our being like John in life and in death, always standing and speaking what is true and just.
Forgive us, O God, when more often we have allowed ourselves to be like Herodias who "harbored a grudge against John."
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted kill him but was unable to do so (Mark 6:17-19).
Take away, O Lord Jesus, the many grudges we have, festering in our hearts, eating up our very selves, and poisoning our relationships especially with those closest to us; heal us, most merciful Jesus, of the grudges that have tore us apart and make us whole again as persons, family and friends; take away within us whatever vestiges of grudges we have against anyone so we may move forward in life, let go of revenge and ill desires for those who may have hurt us.
"In you, O Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me, and deliver me; incline your ear to me, and save me" (Psalm 71:1) instead of harboring grudges inside me against anyone. Amen.
“Salome with the Head of John the Baptist” painting by Caravaggio (1607) at the National Gallery of London; photo from en.wikipedia.org.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 28 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Matthew 23:27-32
Commuters hang from the back of a jeepney as it travels along a road in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Glory and praise to you, God our loving Father for the gift of this great Saint, Augustine, son of St. Monica, Bishop and Teacher of the Church; in him, O God, you showed us every saint has a sinful past and that no sinner can be denied of a saintly future.
It was St. Augustine who taught us among his so many teachings that "grace builds on nature" which he must have learned from his own experiences, from his conversion to Christianity to becoming a priest then a bishop that did not happen like a magic trick by God but with hard work wrapped in intense prayers by him and St. Monica; what a tremendous blessing that as we honor him today, our first is from a letter by his inspiration, St. Paul:
For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10).
Remind us, O God in Jesus Christ like St. Augustine, what is essential is the inside not the outside; let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes, hypocrites, looking like "whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on then outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth" (Matthew 23:27).
Grant us the zeal and enthusiasm like St. Augustine to strive in becoming a better person, most of all a better Christian by working hard in cultivating the prayer life, love for the Sacred Scriptures so that Jesus may dwell always in our hearts. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Monica, Married Mother, 27 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:23-26
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Tagaytay City, 20 August 2024.
I thank you today, dear God our Father for the gift of mothers as we celebrate today the Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17).
How wonderful to find St. Monica handled her life with prayer, the most beautiful tradition the Church had always taught and passed on since its beginning; it was St. Monica's life of prayer that flowed out into the grace of patience and perseverance as well as kindness to others leading ultimately to undying hope in God's goodness in converting first her pagan husband Patricius and then their three sons led by the eldest St. Augustine.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who shed tears when we go wayward as children so lost in a life of sin, and for us aching and hurting deep inside only mothers can detect and empathize with.
Thank you dear God for our mothers who have taught us the importance of prayer and goodness to others and most especially of the value of sincerity than hypocrisy. Bless all mothers today, merciful Father, may they find comfort in Jesus always. Amen.
Photo of St. Monica from the cover of the book “St. Monica Club: How to Wait, Hope and Pray For Your Fallen-away Loved Ones by Maggie Green, Sophia Institute Press, 2019.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 26 August 2024 2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 23:13-22
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 21 August 2024.
Thanks be to God, our loving Father, the month of August is about to end, always a difficult time of the year for various reasons that some have called it a "ghost month"; of course, it is not true at all! August is the month of so many great saints and celebrations that remind us of your presence among us amid the many hardships and difficulties.
We ought to thank you God always for you, brothers and sisters, as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more, and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater… This is evidence of the just judgment of God, so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. We always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 5, 11-12).
Dear God our Father, make us twice worthy like the Thessalonians in the midst of many trials this August: to be worthy of the kingdom of God who is Jesus Christ our Lord, and to be worthy of your calling in His most Holy Name; many times, we have become the modern scribes and Pharisees, modern hypocrites who "lock the Kingdom of heaven before men" with so many of us, especially in the clergy without any desires at all of getting closer to Jesus nor entering heaven!
Make us worthy of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God by embracing and carrying our cross, of suffering with the people, most especially praying and sacrificing with the people.
Make us worthy of your calling, dear Father to be your presence among men and women in this turbulent times when ironically, as we advance in science and technology, that more we grow apart from each other and from our very selves.
Help us find our way back to You, Father in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit with Mary and your Saints. Amen.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay City, 21 August 2024.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 21 August 2024 Photos and poem, annual clergy retreat, 19-23 August 2024 St. Scholastica Spiritual Center in Tagaytay City
Vacare Deo: A vacation with God a most awaited Sabbath when He is truly Lord and God, and we are His children; He the Creator, we His creature so beloved coming home to Him, back in Paradise.
Vacare Deo: A vacation with God to be with Him, to experience Him, to find and listen to Him, not that He is lost but because we have drifted and turned away from Him.
Thank you for finding me, O God, in making me stop to find myself anew to enjoy this beautiful journey with your gift of company; breathe in me your Holy Spirit to fill and animate me with love and passion in finding and following Jesus Christ in everything especially within!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 19 August 2024
“Christ and Rich Young Ruler” by Heinrich Hofmann from en.wikipedia.org.
The volcanic smog from Taal that has shrouded the south since early Monday morning inspired me tonight to share with you this short reflection from the gospel:
Jesus said to him,”If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions (Matthew 19:21-22).
I have been trying to imagine not only the sad face of the young man but most of all, the sadness of Jesus. Most often, the first image of a sad Jesus who comes to our mind is when he was in His Passion and Crucifixion.
That’s understandable.
Try imagining, reflecting Jesus sad when we are sad like at the death of His friend Lazarus. The beloved disciple tells us in his gospel account that upon seeing the sisters Mary and Marta, Jesus became more sad not only with the death of a good friend.
If there is one thing we can always be sure of, Jesus shares our feelings too! When we are sad, Jesus must be most sad too. And how unfair when we fail to see the sadness too of Jesus as if we suffer or grieve alone. Perhaps, it is a part of our pa-victim syndrome, of us being on the distaff side always of the story. Let us not forget Jesus because failing to experience and realize the sadness of Christ means we are still filled with pride, so self-centered and most likely, after overcoming our sadness, we would still keep our “possessions”. What a tragedy that has become a vicious circle with us priests.
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, 25 June 2024.
When is Jesus sad?
As we begin our retreat tonight here in Tagaytay, I feel Jesus saddest when we His priests are sad in celebrating the Mass and other sacraments, in doing our ministry. Jesus cries so hard in shame when we priests are not only sad but also angry, even insolently ministering to the people especially when they are poor.
How easy it is for us priests to readily identify with the young man being sad even with our admission or confession of having many possessions. That’s very easy, like saying sorry from the nose. But, are we ready to let go of our attachments so we become joyful in Christ again as seen in the way we celebrate especially the Mass?
When we priests are sad in our ministry, people are more sad that makes Jesus most sad of all! In the first place, no one – nobody – among the people must be saddened by priests or by the Church as an institution. Priesthood is the joy of Jesus Christ!
It is a grave contradiction that we ever be that rich young man in the gospel portrayed as sad due to many possessions. Its deepest pain and cut is found in the very reason of this sadness: Jesus is most sad when we priests are sad because He knows very well we are no longer His.
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spiritual Center, Baguio City, August 2023.
This kind of sadness which is so negative (because we can be sad too like everyone) starts subtly when we priests are inconvenienced, when we have to sacrifice and suffer, forgetting that it is the life we have freely embraced in the first place. Some priests presumed we can suspend for a while our commitments and vows, and simply be human, whatever that means. So, they stop praying, stop sacrificing, stop living out the vows of poverty, obedience and celibacy.
As priests sink deeper into sadness, they find themselves already trapped in a festering evil and sin, becoming angry and lazy, making so many alibis and excuses from celebrating the Mass especially funerals for poor parishioners.
When there is the confluence of sloth and anger, then it becomes a point of no return because sadness detaches us priests from Jesus and His people. That is the saddest part of this sadness, of priests living in their make-believe world of vanities and all kinds of possessions. Worst part of this is how the sad priests are totally oblivious to the fact they have infected with their sadness the people they were sent to help liberated from burdens and miseries. That is when people come to the Mass and sacraments because they just have to fulfill an obligation to God that is most sad because God sent priests to bring joy, not sadness.
If a priest is making you sad, pray hard for that priest. You are not alone. Priests are sad when their brother-priests are sad in the ministry too.
But, Jesus is most sad when His priest is sad. Pray hard for His priests especially those who seem to enjoy and laugh with the “good life” but sadly empty inside. A priest is supposed to be a leaven to the people, someone who would help others to rise and grow. And glow in Jesus. Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, our Eternal Priest, sorry for making you sad; most of all, for being sad because of my many possessions; help me find my way back to you to be filled anew with your joy. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of San Roque (St. Rock/Roche), Healer, 16 August 2024 Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 19:3-12
Photo by author, 15 August 2024.
God our loving Father, thank you for the gift of personhood, for your gift of personal relationship with each one of us; your servant St. John Paul II defined a person as a "full, conscious, relating being."
Very true but sadly, we never recognize your gift of personhood, of our being a person and its fruit of relationships; instead of looking into the heart and soul of every one of us, we prefer to see each one in the mind, in the letter, in the technical than personal:
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” (Matthew 19:3)
Soften our hearts, Jesus; take away our stony hearts and give us natural hearts that beats with firm faith, fervent hope in You, and unceasing charity for everyone.
Forgive us for being so captivated by our own beauty and prowess, remove our confusion and let us be silenced for shame (Ezekiel 16:15, 63) to remember your covenant by appreciating and being open to your gift of person and relationships by striving to keep this alive despite our many flaws and sins. Amen.
St. Rock, pray for us so infected by another kind of pestilence of pandemic proportion when we see persons as objects and make objects like persons. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August 2024 Revelation 11:19;12:1-6, 10 ><}}}}*> 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 ><}}}}*> Luke 1:39-56
Photo from shutterstock.com
Glory and praise, God Almighty Father in sending us Jesus our Savior who gave us His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very first fruit as St. Paul said of Christ's wondrous work of salvation due her oneness in Him.
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-40).
Right after the Annunciation to Mary, her path to her Assumption began when she "set out and travelled to the hill country in haste" to share Christ in her with Elizabeth; what a beautiful imagery of the same path to the Calvary, another hill outside Jerusalem to be with Christ her Son.
Bless us with the same grace You gave Mary your Mother, Lord Jesus, to follow your path to every hill in this life, to be one with those especially who are in pain and suffering; let us trust in You fully in faith, hope and love that the sufferings we may endure in setting out to travel to the hills of this life is the very path of our assumption in You; let us realize that despite the many comforts and ease of technology today, it is not what life really is, that we all have to go through your Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like Mary, may we believe your words, Jesus, will be fulfilled. Amen.
“The Assumption of the Virgin” by Italian Renaissance painter Titian completed in 1518 for the main altar of Frari church in Venice. Photo from en.wikipedia.org.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Martyr, 09 August 2024 Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 16:24-28
Photo by author, Chapel of the Angel of Peace, 25 June 2024.
Lord Jesus Christ, yesterday You reprimanded Peter for "thinking not as God does, but as human beings do"; today, You tell us what is to think as God does by choosing your path of the Cross:
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).
Forgive us, dear Jesus, for always choosing the path of humans, thinking of one's self, taking and grabbing whatever is available, unmindful of others; give us the courage of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross known as the philosopher Edith Stein: born to a family of means and comfort, one of the first women to study and teach in university before World War II in Europe who became an atheist only to discover the truth of God upon meeting a good friend filled with joy despite the death of her husband; she eventually converted to Catholic faith and when war was raging in Europe as Hitler ordered the extermination of Jews, St. Benedicta remained despite her many chances of leaving safely to Switzerland or South America only to be imprisoned later at Auschwitz where she died a martyr in 1942, described by one survivor of the Holcaust as a "Pieta without the Christ."
In this life of affluence, of noise and glamor, St. Benedicta of the Cross taught as of the beauty of poverty, of silence and of simplicity, of choosing your ways, O Lord Jesus for indeed, "what would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"
Sadly, it is happening now, Lord, it is happening: families so divided because of fame and wealth, friendships destroyed because of ideologies, a nation, a culture going down the drain because of modern thoughts so far from your ways, Jesus.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Pray for us to see and follow the light of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest, 08 August 2024 Jeremiah 31:31-34 <*((((>< + ><))))*> Matthew 16:13-23
Graffiti: a writing or drawings on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view.
Writings on the wall: an idiom that means to say something will fail or something unpleasant will happen like during the time King Belshazzar when there appeared writings on the wall of Babylon's impending end (see Daniel 5:1-30).
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, 20 March 2024.
The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it uppn their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).
How lovely, O God our Father, You chose to write your covenant on our hearts- not on the walls nor documents that often spell danger and disaster or doom and endings; how lovely to simply just look inside our hearts to find You and your covenant, O God; no need to look out or look up or look down and see dirt and chaos.
Your writing on our hearts is simple, noble and reassuring: You shall be our God, we are your people; when Jesus came, He gave us His heart to visibly make that writing, that covenant simply the word LOVE. Many times, we cannot find your laws, your writing on our hearts because we have covered them with so many other gods; very often, Jesus comes to us asking us the same question to the Twelve, "But who do you say that I am?" but we are so busy with our many pursuits in life, reading the many writings on the wall and pavements of our sick world.
Cleanse our hearts, Lord to truly give You our sincere answers and remember your covenant of love written on our hearts. Amen.
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