The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest, 27 September 2023
Ezra 9:5-9 <*(((>< + ><)))*> __ <*(((>< + ><)))*> Luke 9:1-6
Photo by author, San Juan, La Union, 25 July 2023.
Show us your will,
your ways,
and your path,
loving Father
in the face of the many
great changes happening now
in our lives,
in our world,
in our places of work;
truly, changes are
inevitable; in the process,
there would be alterations,
destructions in order to build
like the restoration of your
temple after the exile;
but, dear God,
let us not forget in all these
our own sinfulness
and your mercy and forgiveness.
Give us the grace to cry
and pray like Ezra:
I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven. From the time of our fathers even to this day great has been our guilt, and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered up, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of foreign lands, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace, as is the case today. And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the Lord our God…”
Ezra 9:6-8
How sad that we
never learn from
our lessons of past sins,
of how the many scourges
we deserve fell on us that
we still keep on living in evil,
denying its hold on us,
becoming blind to all
the excesses around us
that indeed our wicked deeds
are heaped up above our heads!
How sad, most of all,
that we easily forget your
love and mercy,
the forgiveness and
new life you gave us
to start anew
in rebuilding our lives
in you.
Let us heed
your call and summons
to proclaim Christ's
gospel of forgiveness
and healing like
St. Vincent de Paul
to the many people
deep into sin
and evil these days
because of fame
and power
and wealth.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 26 September 2023
Ezra 6:7-8, 12, 14-20 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Luke 8:19-20
Dome of the sanctuary of the Malolos Cathedral.
God our loving Father,
thank you for the gift
of the sense of belonging;
every one of us long
to be one with others,
to belong and
be accepted
in one's own family,
circle of friends,
and in various
groups and clubs
that help us grow and
mature as persons.
Sad to say,
many times our sense
of belonging is hinged
on its physical and
outside appearances.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
Luke 8:19-21
More than our
blood relationships
and other basis of
ties as family and friends,
as peoples and a nation,
make us realize
dear Father that our
belongingness is more
in our hearts;
true belonging is
when our hearts
are linked together
feeling and believing
in you through
Jesus Christ.
Teach us the same
lessons learned by your
people who were exiled
and have to rebuild the
temple of Jerusalem upon
their return: nothing indeed
is permanent in this world
except change; only you,
O God, who does not change!
May we continue
to change into a better
person, a more loving
and kinder fellow,
more understanding
and faithful to
family and friends
in you through Christ;
we pray for our beloved
family and friends
whose hearts have been
far from us because
of hurts and misunderstandings
in the past; we pray for those
physically present with
everyone yet
emotionally
and spiritually absent,
living so far away
from those by their side.
Enable us to open
our hearts anew to your
Holy Spirit that we may
be healed of our hurts
and begin to feel one
again with others
in faith,
hope and
love in Jesus.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Twenty-fifth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 25 September 2023
Ezra 1:1-6 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + >]]]]'> Luke 8:16-18
Photo by author, view from Jerusalem temple, May 2019.
Thank you,
dearest God our Father,
in giving us this new day
to pick up the pieces of
our lives, to become better,
to be well, to be fulfilled in you
through Christ Jesus.
Let me claim this life,
Father; let me own
and embrace this gift
of life to make it good;
let me be focus with
the present and what lies
ahead, to let go but learn from
the past. Let me live
the life you have meant
for me so that when finally
I have reached the end
of this journey, you may take
my whole life as my only offering
to you, dear God.
As the psalmist says today,
"The Lord has done great things
for us; we are glad indeed. Restore our fortunes, O Lord...those who sow in tears shall reap
rejoicing. Although they go forth
weeping, carrying the seed to be sown,
they shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves."
(Ps. 126:3,5-6).
May your word guide us
as we live our lives, Jesus;
let us shine like lamps to make
you known to everyone,
that you alone O Lord is
our life and meaning,
our only fulfillment.
We pray also today
for those rebuilding their
lives - those who are finally
set free by all kinds of bondage
to sin and evil, those who have
finally decided on their own
to choose you, to do what is
good, those who have finally
broke free from vices and
every kind of slavery this world
has continued to surreptitiously
promote to hide its sinister plans;
may we find the "goodwill" of
the many other "King Cyrus of Persia"
you continue to send us, Father,
so we too, like your exiled people
of old, may start to pick up the
pieces of our lives
and rebuild our
lives in you again.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, 24 September 2023
Isaiah 55:6-9 ><}}}}*> Philippians 1:20-24, 27 ><}}}}*> Matthew 20:1-16
Photo by author, Church of Dominus Flevit, Jerusalem, May 2017.
We now come to the final installment in the series of teachings by Jesus Christ of what we described as delicate issues affecting even us today. Two Sundays ago it was about fraternal correction, last week was forgiving, and today, something about work and pay that are indeed very delicate for many of us, even ticklish.
Recall that love is the main motivation why we must correct those who sin and go wayward in life. It is also love that moves us to forgive those who repeatedly sin against us.
In today’s parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus is also teaching us about love that results when we learn to be just and generous with others because these two are the minimum requirements of love. It is in our field of work and in the issues of pay and wages when our being Christians are most tested when our senses of justice and generosity are blurred and worst, when we even forget God.
Photo by author, 2018, Davao City.
Like last Sunday, Jesus used another parable today to use a simple story of daily life that appeals to our common experiences. What is very interesting is how both parables of the Lord incited hearers to take sides and adopt positions. Last Sunday we too felt indignant against that servant who was forgiven of his loan so huge but could not let go of the debts of his fellow worker that was so little in amount.
But today’s parable has a different twist that we felt swept off by our feet when Jesus through the landowner reacted differently at the grumbling of those workers who worked longer in the vineyard and received same amount with those who worked for less hours yet paid equally.
“When those who have started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last workers worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat. He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'”
Matthew 20:9-16
Did we not feel surprised, even shocked? Did anyone cry unfair? How could the landowner – God – pay everyone the same amount when others worked so less than the rest?
How sad that when talks are about work and pay, we always insist on justice, especially if we feel the ones shortchanged. And worst, we used it also as our norm for salvation, for entering heaven with some openly declaring who would go to heaven and who would not!
And that is actually the context of the parable when Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Mt.20:1). This is not just about social justice and just wages but about the goodness of God. The vineyard is God, and heaven. Our salvation. Harvest time means judgment day as well as gathering of everyone in God to receive his blessings of love and salvation, healing and forgiveness.
Jesus Christ came to us like that landowner who never stopped looking and searching for us especially those lost and sinful. Truly a God so loving and merciful, he wants us all saved that as early as dawn and as late as 5 o’clock in the afternoon, he kept looking for workers to be blessed, to have something to bring home and share with their families and loved ones at the end of the day. What a beautiful imagery of God our Father who sent us his Son Jesus Christ so we could all come to him. Here we find the previous two parables still operating in the full sense wherein the landowner’s search for more workers into his vineyard was like Christ’s mandate for us to correct and forgive those who sin.
Photo by author, Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem, May 2017.
This Sunday, Jesus is telling us that each one of us is so loved by God who is overly generous, blessing us with everything we need, giving us all the chances in life to become better.
Therefore, let there be no room among us to own and box God and his blessings! Let us not usurp God’s power and generosity for others. We are all his children. Let no one assume to one’s self that he/she is more worthy to God nor he/she is more entitled much less a favorite of God! Please. Especially those who claim only they would enter heaven?
Today, Jesus is telling us we are all his servants, we are all his workers in his vineyard. Those workers hired at dawn were given a job because God is good. From his kindness, he gave them a silver coin for their wage. It is the same good and loving, kind and generous God who hired the other workers at 9am, noon, 3pm and 5pm with the usual salary. Therefore, it is very wrong for those hired at dawn – for anyone of us today – to complain to God of not receiving more than the others just because we have served longer than them. We have no right at all to command and direct God how he must give or dispense his blessings because whatever we receive from him is out of his goodness and never of our own merit.
Moreover, those workers hired at dawn should actually be grateful to God in giving them work while at the same time rejoice too that God had called others later to receive a decent pay to bring home. Here we find a similarity in the attitude of the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son who also complained to their father the party thrown for the return of his younger brother (Lk.15:11-32).
We are all workers in the Lord’s vineyard, God’s beloved and forgiven children. What kind of workers, or children of God, are we then?
May we always remember St. Paul’s admonition two Sundays ago to “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another” (Rom.13:8). Like in the previous two Sundays, Jesus is inviting us today to imitate him and his ways, to shift_ our existence, our views, our person into higher levels in him, with him and through him. It is the same reminder by Isaiah in the first reading that we must let go of our human ways and thoughts to trust in God’s wisdom always. There are times emotions can run high with us sometimes especially when it comes to remunerations, whether material or spiritual but like the Philippians, we must trust that ultimately, everything in this life is the work of God, even the success of Christ’s gospel. All we need to do is trust in him, be like Jesus, merciful and forgiving. Most of all, generous and loving. Amen. Have a blessed new week!
From Facebook, Easter 2021: “There is an urgency to announce the joy of the Risen Lord.”
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 22 September 2023
1 Timothy 6:2-12 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 8:1-3
Photo by Dra. Mai Dela Peña, Mt. Carmel, Israel, 2017.
Excuse me,
loving Father
for being musical since
yesterday in my prayers;
your words have been
literally hitting some
musical chords within me
as I pray and experience
your presence.
How beautiful are the words
of St. Paul today as he urged
St. Timothy and us
to focus on the really precious
things in life that are often
having less of things
and more of you,
more of others
so we can share
more love,
more kindness,
more being with.
But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Forgive us,
Father, for filling our
lives not only with
endless desires for
money and things,
fame and honor
but also with so many
ideas and words that
pretend to promote equality
and freedom but actually
result in "arguments and
verbal disputes" that lead to
"envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions,
and mutual friction among people
with corrupted minds, deprived
of the truth" (1 Tm. 6:4-5).
Grant us,
dear God,
the courage
to strip ourselves naked
of earthly desires
in order to focus more
in journeying in Jesus Christ
like those women who
accompanied him and Twelve
by "providing for them out
of their resources" (Lk.8:3).
Let us trust in you alone,
Father, that you provide
everything we need
in this life
as we seek first
your kingdom.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, 21 September 2023
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Matthew 9:9-13
Photo by Mr. Virgie Ongleo in Singapore, 2021.
God our loving Father,
on this feast of your Son's
Apostle St. Matthew who used
to be known as Levi, a tax collector,
I pray for all the men and women
who work hard to provide food,
shelter, and clothing for their
families; through St. Matthew,
Jesus Christ had shown us
you love so dearly every working
man and woman who toil and labor
under the most harsh conditions
trying to earn a living.
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:9
St. John Chrysostom rightly
noticed how the gospels mentioned
the work of some Apostles called
by Jesus: Peter, James and John were
fishing while Matthew was collecting
taxes; oh how perceptive were the eyes
and tongue of St. John Chrysostom!
Because fishing was seen as a lowly job
during that time while the taxman was
the most despicable person for Jews
and yet, Jesus called them!
Lord Jesus,
grant your mercy and comfort,
consolation and help to all workers
so hard pressed in this life,
especially the forgotten who strive
to earn money decently like our
farmers and fishermen,
drivers and vendors,
maidservants and nannies
who working abroad
to care for other families as they
left their own families behind;
bless the cops and traffic enforcers,
our government workers
and officials who live in the darkness
of sin, trapped in the lures of wealth
and money; in calling St. Matthew,
Jesus showed us his daily passing
and calling of everyone of us,
people of all social classes while
they go about their ordinary,
daily work.
Grant us the strength
and courage, dear Jesus,
to be like St. Matthew
to immediately rise up and
follow you, to leave everything
behind especially sin and evil,
to be detached and to finally
stop activities that are not
compatible in following
you, Lord; like St. Matthew,
may we "write" your gospel
with our very lives of holiness,
making known to everyone
your Divine Mercy.
Dearest Jesus,
open our hearts to
intently listen to St. Matthew's
voice and message
so we may learn to
rise and stand
then follow you,
Lord,
with determination.
Amen.
St. Matthew,
pray for us!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 20 September 2023
Photo by Mr. Ryan John Jacob, December 2022.
Every time we pray is a moment of grace from God, not only to the one praying or pray-er but most of all to others. To see somebody at prayer is a sight filled with great wonder and blessings from God because every prayer period is a divine operation.
Please don’t get me wrong. Whenever we pray and others see us, it always has an effect on them. Many times we have heard some people saying nasty things at the sight of those deep in prayer especially here at social media with ready templates casting moral aspersions on pray-ers as hypocrites and show offs. People who do that most likely do not pray at all, do not know anything about prayer. Most likely, they are a variant of the self-righteous Pharisee in the Lord’s parable (Lk. 18:9-14). Prayer moments are founts of grace not only for pray-ers but for others as well.
My point is simple. Just keep praying. Follow your inner leading to pray, to stop by a church or a chapel, to kneel and make the Sign of the Cross because every time we pray, our prayer is already answered by God. Not only for us but for others too.
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University, 13 September 2023.
The other day I shared with you how my mother had taught us how to pray. Today I share with you an aspect of prayer I have learned from my father who witnessed to us the essence and beauty of praying.
As far as I can remember in my early childhood days until I have become a priest, my immediate, unforgettable image of my dad is being a man of prayer, a man at prayer.
Every morning before he would go to office, I have seen him praying in front of our altar of Christ the King and Sacred Heart. It was a ritual I have come to unconsciously imitate that would start with the lighting of candles before the sacred images, after which he would genuflect making the Sign of the Cross in deep silence and as he rose after a few moments of pause, that is when he pulls out his Rosary. That’s every morning before leaving for work he had continued until his retirement.
When he comes home in the afternoon, his ritual began with washing himself to change clothes before going to the altar with the usual lighting of candles, silent genuflection while making the Sign of the Cross. He would leave the candles burning to go down and join us kids in front of the grotto to pray the Angelus at 6pm while listening to Radio Veritas.
On weekends, he did the same routine in the afternoon. Daddy spent Saturdays and Sundays doing his two favorite things, cooking in the morning and reading in the afternoon. Oh, he read everything from old newspapers and magazines to his many book collections and finally in the afternoon, his two staple reading companions – that big, red Holy Bible and that little green book called “My Spiritual Diary” by the Daughters of St. Paul which I could not remember where I have kept.
My mom and dad always together, our first teachers about God and prayer.
When people ask me how my vocation started, I tell them my parents never encouraged me to become a priest. In fact both were surprised when I sought their permission to enter the seminary after grade six. But, I believe it was my father who unconsciously planted the seeds of my priestly vocation when I would always see him praying since childhood.
When my only brother Willy, our youngest, was born prematurely at eight months in December 15, 1973, dad gathered us three siblings in our sala downstairs near his big escritorio to inform us of his condition, of how he was very sick inside the incubator and would have to stay longer in the hospital for treatment while my mom might come home before Christmas. Then he told us almost in whisper as his voice would crack that we pray hard for Willy and mommy. We did not understand then what he meant to pray hard. All I remembered was how that night I saw him in bed alone as my mother was still in GSIS Hospital (now East Avenue Medical Center), staring at the ceiling as he held his rosary on his chest. Decades later when I was back in the seminary, he told me that was the only time he really learned to pray hard when Willy was born prematurely. I never understood dad’s words of “praying hard” except that like him, I have tried to pray always.
Photo by author, Jerusalem, May 2019.
I have no claims to holiness for I am a sinner. And that is why I always pray even if at times I doubt my prayers or if God listens at all to me! But God never fails to console me at times when people tell me how they have learned to pray after seeing me prayed.
Parishioners notice us priests when we pray or not. Both here and abroad, I have heard lay people saying how they love seeing us priests pray because they are touched. Imagine that simple act of praying as a form of witnessing to Christ. What is wonderful is that parishioners learn to pray more for their priests when they see them praying which leads to more grace and blessings for everyone from God!
Of course, we pray not to be seen but prayer is our life as priests and lay alike. We are all blessed when we pray. Period. No one can judge if we are praying right except God. What matters is we keep praying. Hence, give us your priests those sacred space and sacred moments to pray most of all! Don’t invite us out at night anymore.
Though Jesus had instructed us that “when you pray, go into your inner room to pray in secret” (Mt.6:6ff), he does not tell us not to pray in public. What is essential in prayer is being true and humble before God, of going inside our selves – our inner room in secret – like in Christ’s parable of the proud Pharisee and sinful tax collector at the temple (Lk. 18:9-14).
Prayer is being one with God. We call it communion. It happens most truly when we pray and others see us that they too are moved to be one with God. And that is when communion starts to happen, when we truly follow Jesus as his disciples by praying together.
Photo by Mr. Red Santiago, January 2020.
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:34, 38
For us to be truly the Church, the Body of Christ, we have to be a community of disciples at prayer. Together. In Christ, with Christ, through Christ. Amen. Have a blessed and prayerful remaining half of the week!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Taegon & Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2023
1 Timothy 3:14-16 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> Luke 7:31-35
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD at Tagalag, Valenzuela City, 13 September 2023.
Praise and glory
to you, God our loving
Father! As we celebrate
today the Memorial of Korea's first
priest martyr St. Andrew Kim Taegon
and his companion martyrs of over
100 others, we thank you too
for the vibrant Christian faith
in that part of the world.
How amazing are your
grace and works, O God
in that "land of the morning calm" -
Korea - where the seeds of faith
were primarily planted by
lay people touched by
the few missionaries
who have reached their
shores.
Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angel, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
Great
is their mystery of devotion
as St Paul put it;
grant us the same grace
of continuing fascination
to Christ's mystery among us
through prayers and studies
of your words and of the
Church's teachings;
let Jesus be manifested
in our lives of witnessing
as vindicated by the Spirit,
proclaimed and believed,
accepted and embraced
because it is so true
by everyone.
Grant us discernment,
dear God,
to always recognize
and follow you in the
various persons and
instances, no matter how
unusual they or these may be,
for you are a God of surprises.
Amen.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon
and companion martyrs
of Korea,
Pray for us!
St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 September 2023
1 Timothy 3:1-13 ><))))*> _ ><))))*> _ ><))))*> Luke 7:11-17
Photo by author, CLLEX-Tarlac, 19 July 2023.
Your words today,
O God our loving Father,
are very encouraging
and assuring
with our varied
aspirations in life:
Beloved: This saying is trustworthy: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.
1 Timothy 3:1
When is an aspiration
to any office or post,
not just in the Church,
is a desire for a noble task?
Help us,
dear Jesus to make
our aspiration a desire
for a noble task
by first looking at the needs
of others and not for our
personal advantages;
looking at how
to console others,
alleviate their sufferings
and strengthen their
faith and hopes in life
like you did to the widow
at Nain when you were moved
with pity upon seeing the grieving
mother who had been widowed
with no one to turn to in life;
awaken and heighten
our sensitivities,
our sense of empathy
to the silent sufferings
of so many people these
days who sometimes hide
their grief because no one
seem to care at all for them.
Secondly,
make our aspirations a
noble task by sincerely
confronting our very selves
if we have the qualifications
for any office; let us not aspire
for positions for selfish, personal motives
nor to what would please us;
like the criteria set by St. Paul
for those seeking to become
bishop and deacon, may we
realize that you also give the
gifts necessary to respond
to your call; let us not insist
on ourselves, Lord.
Lastly,
may we always leave
your mark, dear Jesus
in our works
as the surest sign
that ours is an aspiration
for a noble task; may God
our Father be the only One
recognized and seen,
felt and experienced
in our tasks like when
you raised the dead
young man in Nain
with everyone exclaiming
"God has visited
his people" (Lk. 7:16).
Many times,
O God, many are losing
that aspiration to serve
you in others lest they be
mistaken for many
opportunists politicians
who shamelessly aspire
for posts with purely
personal motives;
send us, dear God,
with many people
who would aspire
for noble tasks
of serving you
through our poor and
marginalized brothers
and sisters totally forgotten
in our many social equations.
Amen.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 18 September 2023
Photo by author, Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infant, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
It was my mother who taught us how to pray early in childhood. Beginning with the Sign of the Cross, she taught us also to be more specific in our prayers by mentioning our names to God as well as everything we need.
We were still two siblings then, with me as the eldest. After instructing us how to put on our kulambo with its long lines of cord tied to nails on the walls because our beds have no posts, Mommy would always ensure that me and my sister pray as she tucked us in our respective bed which went like this:
Thank you very much God for today;
please bless my Daddy Will and my Mommy Cory,
my sister Meg, and I, Nick. Amen.
Later on came my second sister Bing-Bing and she was added to our list of names to mention in prayer every night. When Bing-Bing was learning to speak and her turn to learn to pray, Mommy added another prayer just for her, had to learn to pray, “God, give me patatas” because she loved potatoes found in our favorite nilaga, pochero, afritada, even the little cubes of menudo!
I still pray this prayer that had automatically added the names of new members of our family, from our bunso my only brother Willy born in 1973 to my brother-in-law when Meg got married, all my four nieces and only nephew, Mommy’s two yayas, along with other relatives and friends that include some of my parishioners as well as brother priests in the ministry all kept in a list in my breviary. Lately, I have been praying that God would bless my nieces and nephew with good marriage partners so I can already have apo, and I don’t mind mentioning their names in my future prayers!
With my two sisters and three pamangkins in a recent Baguio vacation.
The only other person next to my mother who had taught me to pray mentioning the names of the people I pray for is my Jesuit spiritual guide Fr. Arthur Shea (RIP). During our 30-day retreat in 1995 before our third year in theology, Fr. Shea asked us to always mention the names of the people we pray for, whether still living or already dead because according to him, that makes our prayer truly personal. He assured us that something beautiful happens within us when we mention the names of the people we pray for. And I believed him 100%!
Now I am 58 years old and 25 years as a priest, I have realized that the most effective prayer is always those most personal when we specify the people with their names and the intentions we pray for.
Prayers change and transform people, not situations; when people are transformed, relationships improve, peace and harmony happen among us. Mentioning the name of people we pray for is practical as it lessens the anger and negativities we have against any person. Most of all, it is difficult to pray for people we hate and thus, mentioning their names not only make our prayers effective but also affective.
Even if we do not mention the names of people we pray for, at least when we specify the kinds of people we are praying for produce the same results, both effective and affective. One of the beautiful prayers I have learned in high school seminary was praying for specific people we hardly know but who affect us directly or indirectly like those working overnight to deliver us goods we need the following morning such as drivers and delivery men, market vendors, and bakers. Also included in our night prayers then were those traveling overnight that they may reach their destinations safely and for prisoners languishing in jail especially the innocent ones. It was in those prayers where I learned to think more of other people, to see more outside of myself and search for those in the margins and forgotten whom God loves so much.
Call me crazy or funny, I pray also for our local and world leaders by mentioning their names even if they do not know me or did not elected them at all! When I was in first year theology in 1993, I was so overjoyed that I submitted as my reflection in one of our subjects the historic meeting in Oslo, Norway of Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin (later assassinated) and the late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat; I have been praying for the peace process in Israel since I re-entered the seminary and I felt God answered my prayer with that historic meeting between the leaders of two bitter enemies. I just felt so good inside that God heard my prayer, convincing me that God answers prayers of his children, no matter how simple or complicated it may be. That Oslo Accord led to the 2000 Camp David Summit hosted by American President Bill Clinton between Israel and the PLO. Though peace remains elusive in that part of the world, I still pray for the people especially after I had visited the Holy Land thrice.
Of course, God knows everything and what is needed in this world not only in our lives. For sure, he knows us all by name too! But, when we pray for one another as St. Paul tells Timothy, that is when we begin to identify everyone and find our relationships with them as brothers and sisters whom we must love and respect to make this world a better place to live in.
Photo by author, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela, 13 September 2023.
Beloved: First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
It all begins in our hearts when we pray. When we make a space in our hearts for other people by mentioning their names or simply identifying them in particular needs and situations, that is when God truly comes to fill us with his Spirit. Everything then follows like peace and harmony as we have seen in today’s gospel account of the healing the centurion’s servant by Jesus (Lk. 7:1-10).
See how the Jews “approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, ‘He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them” (Lk.7: 4-6). Jesus answered their prayers by coming with them already! He must have been so surprised too with their attitude toward the pagan because finally, they saw not differences but similarities as persons believing in God. When we mention names of people, that is when we recognize them as one of us too, making our prayers effective and affective as change and miracles begin to happen. Amen. Have a blessed Monday!
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