Tag: prayer

Our blessed Motherland

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Philippine Independence Day, 12 June 2023
2 Corinthians 1:1-7    ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Matthew 5: 1-12
Sunrise at Atok, Benguet by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, 01 September 2019.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
for this gift of Independence Day;
forgive us for the many times
we have taken it for granted,
when we waste all opportunities
to love and serve our blessed
Motherland.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Matthew 5:5
Help us to be "meek" or better,
be "gentle to inherit the land" 
by having that inner strength within us
to stand for what is true and just,
for what is good and holy
by first being a good citizen
of this country so hurt,
so forgotten by its own people
since the beginning.

Dearest Jesus,
fill us with encouragement
to never lose hope for our country,
to inspire more people to love
our blessed Motherland by
choosing the right persons to lead us,
those willing to suffer and sacrifice 
for the sake of the least and marginalized
and most especially,
to care for this only country we got
you have blessed abundantly
up to future generations of
Filipinos serving fellow Filipinos.
Amen.

God above all

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, 09 June 2023
Tobit 11:5-17   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Mark 12:35-37
Photo. by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 20 March 2023.
Thank you dearest Lord
our God and loving Father
for the week past, for the
achievements and failures too,
for joys and hurts, for everything.
You are above all, God our Father;
all good things come from you
and if ever bad things happen to us
as a result of our sins and wrong
decisions or due to evil in the world,
you are very much aware of its
happening to us,
always ensuring that despite its
negative impact on us,
it would still lead to something
good and beautiful for us.
Like in the blindness of Tobit.
Give us the grace of patience
and perseverance, and much faith
and trust in you to await your day
of redemption,
your day of salvation,
your day of healing
and coming.

Then Tobit went back in, rejoicing and praising God with full voice. Tobiah told his father that the Lord God had granted him a successful journey; that he had brought back the money; and that he had married Raguel’s daughter Sarah, who would arrive shortly, for she was approaching the gate of Nineveh.

Tobit 11:15
Vanish all our doubts on you,
Lord Jesus Christ;
let us realize how the very
scriptures identify you
as our Messiah and Lord of all,
the fulfillment of God's promise
of Old; most of all, let us submit
to your power and authority
for you are our Lord and God alone.
Amen.

Purity of heart

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 08 June 2023
Tobit 6:10-11, 7:9-17   <*((((>< + ><))))*>   Mark 12:28-34
Photo by author, January 2023.
God our loving Father,
cleanse our hearts,
purify us of our desires
and intentions in life;
make us like Tobiah
who could wholeheartedly
declare before you of his 
noble intentions in marrying
Sarah:

Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow us to live together to a happy old age.” They said together, “Amen, amen,” and went to bed for the night.

Tobit 8:7-8
Like the man who inquired
Jesus about the first of all
commandments, grant us
dear God same pure heart
that leads to "understanding"
so that we may be "no longer
far from the Kingdom of God"
(cf. Mark 12:34).
Amen.

Our God is alive, not dead

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 07 June 2023
Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17   ><))))*> + <*((((><   Mark 12:18-27
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 19 May 2023.
God our loving Father,
today I pray for those losing
hope in you; for those in so
difficult and painful situations
in life, doubting your existence,
doubting your presence,
doubting your love.
You are "not the God of dead
but of the living" (Mark 12:27),
dear Father as declared by 
your Son Jesus Christ to us
in the gospel today.
With you, O God,
everything is possible
for as long as we believe,
for as long as we are alive
because our very life is your gift,
your proof of your presence,
your assurance of caring for us;
even if we feel so shortchanged in life
with all the bad things happening,
you love us; in fact, when we are
so down, so hard pressed in life,
that is when you love as most,
when you are most closest to us. 
May we draw inspiration in faith,
in forging on with this life from 
the examples of Tobit and Sarah
who both prayed for death to you
because they felt so nothing before
others;  sometimes, it is what we all
need to experience your life, 
your loving presence
that we have nothing else but you!

At that very time, the prayer of these two suppliants was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God. So Raphael was sent to heal them both: to remove the cataracts from Tobit’s eyes, so that he might again see God’s sunlight; and to marry Raguel’s daughter Sarah to Tobit’s son Tobiah, and then drive the wicked demon Asmodeus from her.

Tobit 3:17
May we rejoice always
in your gift of life to us
each day, Lord.
Amen.

Make it easy on yourself

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 06 June 2023
Tobit 2:9-14   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Mark 12:13-17
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 19 May 2023.
I am not going to sing,
Lord, but Burt Bacharach's
old tune "Make It Easy on Yourself"
is one consoling song
that must have come
only from you.
Many times,
our worst enemy is
our very self;
many times we are
so hard on ourselves,
unforgiving,
unkind and
uncharitable 
not only to ourselves
but also to those
dearest to us.
Like Tobit who 
refused to believe 
the goat brought home
by his wife Anna was a gift, 
not stolen as he insisted.

Yet I would not believe her, and told her to give it back to its owners. I became very angry with her over this. So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!”

Tobit 2:14
Forgive us, loving Father
for the many times 
we ourselves indict us
for wrongdoings we 
accuse others of doing
like those Pharisees
and Herodians
who tried to ensnare
Jesus with the question
about paying taxes
when they themselves
handed him a denarius
they were not supposed
to bring in the temple area,
a clear sign of violating
their own laws,
of bringing false images
in the house of God!
Teach us, O God,
to be easy on ourselves,
to be kinder,
to be softer
with our weaknesses
and shortcomings
for we are not gods
like you; most of all,
teach us to be easy
on ourselves 
so we may be also easy 
on others
and to you too!
Amen.

Praying for perseverance

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop & Martyr, 05 June 2023
Tobit 1:3, 2:1-8   ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>   Mark 12:1-12
Photo by author, Anvaya Cove, 05 January 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
for enabling us to cover
this first half of 2023!
Grant us the grace 
of perseverance like Tobit
in the first reading who
kept on doing what is good
despite the many beatings,
literally and figuratively speaking,
he had had in helping his countrymen
in a foreign land.

I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my life on the paths of truth and righteousness. I performed many charitable works for my kinsmen and my people who had been deported with me to Nineveh, in Assyria… Once the neighbors mocked me, saying to one another: “He is still not afraid! Once before he was hunted down for execution because of this very thing; yet now that he has escaped, here he is again burying the dead!”

Tobit 1:3, 2:8
Teach us to persevere,
Lord, to have the endurance
and stamina in surviving the
toughest conditions to 
emerge better persons,
better disciples
who help those in need
and neglected like Tobit 
and his son Tobias.
Or like St. Boniface who,
despite his so many successes
in Germany insisted in returning to 
Frisia in the Netherlands where
he had first failed as a missionary
only to be massacred later with
his disciples.

Many times,
death awaits perseverance
like your Son Jesus Christ,
the heir of the vineyard owner
in today's parable.
But still, O God,
perseverance in you pays
so well if not for the ones
persevering but most
especially for those their
efforts are directed.

Most of all,
perseverance teaches
us to never give up,
to never quit,
for every effort
in your glory
matters so much.
Amen.

Faith is relationship with God

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs, 02 June 2023
Sirach 44:1.9-13   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Mark 11:11-26
Photo by author, January 2023.
Praise and glory to you,
God our loving Father,
for this first Friday of June;
your words are very interesting
with Ben Sirach calling us to
recall and remember the faithful
men and women who have lived'
and gone ahead of us while Mark
combined two stories in our
gospel scene today.

Now I will praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time. But of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased. And they are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them. Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten.

Sirach 44:1, 9-10
So true indeed are his words
until now!  There are many great
people we remember their names
for their great faith and but there 
are still far more than them whom we
know remain unnamed having served
God so well among his people;
may we try to remember today 
our simple folks whose faith
have inspired us to be more
faithful and charitable like
Ben-sirach.
On the other hand, 
Mark combines two stories
in the life of our Lord Jesus 
to instill in us the importance 
of faith not just as a belief
nor a system of theology
we must learn but a relationship
we must keep with God through
our brothers and sisters.
Forgive us, Jesus,
for those times our faith
bore no fruit and withered 
so dried like the fruitless fig tree;
forgive us, Jesus,
when we make religion
an economic enterprise 
like what happened to the
temple of Jerusalem during
your time; cleanse us of our 
selfish motives that faith
has become more of a means
for social mobility than for
spiritual growth through
meaningful relationships
with God and with others.
Grant us, Jesus,
the courage and fidelity
of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter
to be firm in our faith in you.
Amen.

Becoming like Christ, our eternal high priest

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday after Pentecost, 
Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Eternal High Priest, 01 June 2023
Genesis 22:9-18   ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[><   Matthew 26:36-42
Photo by Mr. Mon Macatangga, 12 May 2023.
God our loving Father,
thank you for allowing us
to reach the first half of the year
and what a tremendous blessing
on this first day of June we are
also celebrating the Feast of 
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Eternal High Priest.
In Jesus Christ
you have given us
the perfect mediator
to you, our Father
and to one another
as brothers and sisters.
In Baptism,
you have made us share
in your priesthood, Lord Jesus;
you have weakened the
COVID virus and how sad
that now we are free to 
travel, many of us have refused
to come back to Sunday
Eucharist when we exercise
Christ's priestly ministry.

May our lives be a life of
worship to you, O God,
like Abraham, trustingly 
obeying you even in 
giving up those most 
precious to us.

Again then Lord’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly…

Genesis 22:15-17
Also on this Feast of Jesus Christ
our Eternal High Priest,
we pray most fervently for our
priests that each of them may be
a man of the Word,
a man of prayer
 in intimate
relationship with you, dear Jesus
so that they may give us only you, Jesus,
always you, Jesus.

We pray for priests
most especially bishops too
who have no more time to pray
to be one with you, Jesus,
as they spend more time with
people, sad to say, with the rich
and powerful forgetting your little ones
like the poor and the sick;
transform our priests and bishops,
Jesus, to be more like you
in thinking,
in speaking,
in doing,
in living, 
and in loving.
Amen.

Our God of surprises

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 31 May 2023
Romans 12:9-16   ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*>   Luke 1:39-56
Photo by author, sunrise at Anvaya Cove, Morong, Bataan, 19 May 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father 
who had come and comes
daily in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Just like in this Feast of the 
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
you always surprise us dear God
like Elizabeth.
Every visitation is always
surprising, especially when 
you are the one coming,
O God.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Luke 1:41-43
Like Elizabeth,
we are so surprised
with your visitation in
Christ Jesus because
if ever there is anyone
who should be making 
the visit, it should be us -
or Elizabeth who should 
have visited Mary who was
pregnant with Jesus Christ.
What a beautiful anticipation
it was of Christ's mission through
his self-emptying or kenosis
when he said "The Son of Man
has come to serve and not to be
served" (see Mt.20:28, Mk. 10:45).
Keep us home,
keep us grounded in you,
Lord, like Elizabeth,
always ready to be
surprised with your visit,
to welcome your coming
in the Holy Spirit to shake us 
and examine our many beliefs,
traditions and conventions
that have prevented us from 
making Jesus more present among us
especially the poor and marginalized;
keep us home,
keep us rooted in you
like Elizabeth, Lord,
ready to be radical,
to go back to our roots
and rootedness so that only
what is most essential we must
keep - the person of
Jesus Christ himself
because many times,
we do not recognize your coming,
your visits as we are busy
"visiting" worldly concerns
than being focused in you
our Lord.
Come, Lord Jesus,
visit us like when you
visited Elizabeth and 
John through Mary your
Mother so we may imitate
her in bringing you to the
hungry and poor so that 
we may learn to practice
St. Paul's admonition,
"Let love be sincere:
hate what is evil, hold on
to what is good; love one
another with mutual affection;
anticipate one another in
showing honor" (Rom. 12:9-10).
Surprise us, Lord!
Amen.

Why give?

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 30 May 2023
Sirach 35:1-12   ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>   Mark 10:28-31
Photo by Mr. John Ryan Jacob, December 2022, Paco, Obando, Bulacan.
Why give at all, Lord?

Today you answer this 
"frequently asked question" 
of so many people especially
Christians:  why should I give?

Appear not before the Lord empty-handed, for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the precepts. The just one’s offering enriches the altar and rises as a sweet odor before the Most High. The just one’s sacrifice is most pleasing nor will it ever be forgotten.

Sirach 35:4-6
There are so many reasons
why we should give but in the
wise words by Ben Sirach today,
one clear reason why we should
give is because everything is yours,
O God; we own nothing at all!

Whatever we have is yours
and the more we give,
the more we share,
the more you bless us!
Teach us, O God,
not to be selfish,
to be open,
to be generous
for we are mere channels
of your blessings and 
grace; forgive us, Jesus,
when we are like the rich man
who asked you about gaining
eternal life but unwilling to give
up his possession to share with others
or like Simon Peter counting 
whatever we have given
and shared, most especially 
what we have given up for you
as if everything we have is 
totally ours, that we owe no one
except ourselves in having them
without realizing we are your mere
stewards of whatever we have;
so often, we fail to realize 
the simple truth 
that when everyone
gives, everyone receives.
That is why we must give.
Amen.