The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Feast of Sts. Philip & James the Less, Apostles, 03 May 2023
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ><))))"> + ><))))"> + ><))))"> John 14:6-14
Photo by author, sunrise at Katmon Nature Sanctuary & Beach Resort, Infanta, Quezon, 04 March 2023.
Thank you, dearest Lord Jesus Christ
for the gift of two Apostles whose
feast we celebrate today,
St. Philip and St. James the Less;
thank you in giving us examples
to personally be near you,
to be one with you
and to be one in you.
How lovely it is to recall
when Philip along with Andrew
approached and asked you
where you stayed and you told them
to "come and see"; what they saw
and experienced must be so wonderful
that Philip was so convinced in
calling Nathanael to come and see you
whom he had recognized as the Messiah.
In being your apostles,
Philip and James remind us
of the need to be close
and familiar with you to
discover your true identity,
to enter into a personal contact
with you by listening, responding
and communing in you Jesus daily,
of the need to dwell in you always.
During your last supper,
you expressed clearly how
the word "dwelling" means -
intimacy and oneness in the Father
in you and with one another also
in you, dear Jesus.
Your cousin James who eventually
became the bishop of Jerusalem
practiced this meaning of dwelling
in you by working to resolve the
the tensions among the Jewish
and Hellenist converts to
Christianity; how beautiful that
the early Church lived in
harmony with each other,
rooted in you, Jesus,
our home,
our dwelling.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, 02 May 2023
Acts 11:19-26 ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> + ><}}}}*> John 10:22-30
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Quezon City, 22 March 2023.
God our loving Father,
fill us with your grace of
encouragement;
give us the grace to
encourage people especially
those discouraged to move
on with life,
those discouraged by setbacks
and other disappointments
in life,
those discouraged by sickness,
by poverty, by so many other
reasons that they lose hope
and trust in you.
Like the Apostle Barnabas
whose name means
"son of encouragement",
may we bring encouragement
to others especially in times of
uncertainties, of sufferings,
and difficulties; most of all, like
Barnabas who went out of his way
to look for Saul to bring him to
the Church, may we search for those
who have opted to stay out from our
circles to encourage them to join
the mainstream, to be involved in
spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ,
especially his truths now under
attack from people promoting modern
trends of heresies.
Gift us with the conviction and
clarity of St. Athanasius who
fought Arianism with such vigor and
passion until his death.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, 01 May 2023
Genesis 1:26-2:3 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Matthew 13:54-58
Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 20 March 2023.
Glory and praise to you,
God our loving Father
in giving us a share
in your work in making
this world a better place;
despite our sinfulness and
turning away from you
in the time of Adam and Eve,
you still call us to participate
in your work of holiness
by calling St. Joseph to
marry the Blessed Virgin
Mary, the Mother of your Son
and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Despite the difficult situation
and work ahead of him,
St. Joseph obeyed you,
working in silence,
doing your will,
taking care of Jesus and Mary
that in his work,
people recognized
Jesus!
Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?”
Matthew 13:54-55
Like St. Joseph,
may we not find only
the labor and amount
of work to be done
in our tasks and jobs
but most of all,
that we may find
you in Jesus Christ,
the very meaning of
our life and work.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Third Week of Easter, 28 April 2023
Acts 9:1-20 ><}}}}"> + ><}}}}"> + ><}}}}"> John 6:52-59
Photo by author, Lian, Batangas, 2022.
Thank you dear Jesus
for your wonderful words
today that remind us of your
personal call to each one of us
like St. Paul; sometimes we envy
O Lord the manner you have called
the saints to follow you but at
closer look, you have called us all
in the most personal manner,
in the most unique way
according to our person
and situation,
our own "Damascus".
Today's first reading is so
marvelous because we too
have experienced you personally
calling us in our name like "Saul",
who like us too, many times do not
know you nor recognize you at all;
sometimes, we are like Ananias
arguing with you, telling you what
we know as if you do not know!
Dearest Lord Jesus,
like Saul or St. Paul and
Ananias, give us the grace to
answer and respond to your calls:
First, to work for you, the Christ:
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city
and you will be told
what you must do" (Acts 9:5,6).
Second, to follow you, the Christ:
"Go, for this man is a chosen
instrument of mine to carry
my name before Gentiles, kings,
and children of Israel" (Acts 9:15).
Third, most of all, to suffer for you, O Christ:
"and I will show show him
what he will have to suffer
for my name" (Acts 9:16).
Let us keep this in our minds
and hearts, Lord Jesus:
that each day you come to meet
us in our various "Damascus",
calling us to work for you,
follow you,
and most of all,
suffer for you.
Stop us, dear Jesus,
in our many quarrels
like the Jews at your time;
let us go with you
and suffer with you to be
a bread too for others
in sustaining their
journey with you.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Third Week of Easter, 27 April 2023
Acts 8:26-40 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + <))))*> John 6:44-51
Lord Jesus Christ,
teach us to listen more
intently to you speaking to us
in the most unusual manner,
often when we least expected
like in the story of Philip and
the Ethiopian eunuch.
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch… who had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with the chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.
Acts 8:27, 29-31
What a wonderful
and amusing passage of how
it happened! But that is
beside the point because
that's the way it is with you,
Lord Jesus and your Holy Spirit
working in most extraordinary
ways; what matters is first of all
Philip showing us the importance
of listening and obeying your
promptings no matter how
difficult or funny it may be!
Listening to you, Lord,
means listening to others, too!
Teach us to see this important
relationship of listening to your
voice in our human voice.
Many times, we are afraid to
obey you because we doubt
your voice jibes with the human
voice. Give us courage to express
your words by listening to what
others are saying like Philip when
he asked the eunuch if he understood
what he was reading.
Likewise,
keep us attuned with your words
and teachings, Lord so that when
people ask us to explain things for them,
we would always be ready like Philip
to confirm your voice others hear.
When we know and appreciate
these dynamics of listening,
then it becomes so true that
"No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day"
(John 6:44). Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday in the Third Week of Easter, 26 April 2023
Acts 8:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 6:35-40
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Lord Jesus,
teach me to be a "devout"
person; not just righteous or
holy but devout as well
like those "Devout men (who)
buried Stephen and made a loud
lament over him" (Acts 8:2).
Yesterday, you taught us dear Lord
that whatever is in our heart is
reflected on our face;
today you teach us that
to be "devout" is still of the heart
which is to be of a good heart
ready to believe and act openly
with courage on that belief.
Only St. Luke used the adjective
"devout" to describe some persons
like Simeon who praised God upon
seeing Jesus when presented to the
temple by his parents; the Jews from
all over the world who came to observe
Pentecost day in Jerusalem;
the men who buried Stephen, and
Ananias who sought Saul while
still blind to bring him to the Church.
Many times dear Lord
our being devout is
self-serving when we merely
open our eyes for things
that are seen in our many
devotions, seeing more our selves
failing to see Christ in
the other persons
who have to be loved
and cared for, understood
and forgiven, accepted and
affirmed.
No wonder until now,
though we receive you Jesus
in the Eucharist, we do not
experience and feel your Body,
your Person because our hearts
are not open at all to you through
others especially the sick and
suffering. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Third Week of Easter, Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist, 25 April 2023
1 Peter 5:15-14 <*(((>< + ><)))*> + <*(((>< + ><)))*> Mark 16:15-20
A painting of St. Mark the Evangelist by French artist Valentin de Boulogne done in 1624-1625 from en.wikipedia.org.
Thank you, dear Lord Jesus
for calling and sending us
St. Mark the Evangelist,
the first to have written
your gospel account based
on the teachings of his
friend and mentor,
St. Peter; his gospel
account eventually
became the guide of
later gospel accounts by
Matthew and Luke.
And we thank you for
that giftedness of being
the first to write,
the first to dare
go out and make you
known by everyone,
Lord Jesus Christ!
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Mark 16:15-16
St. Mark is often described
as being young
and at the same time
immature: twice he is
portrayed as fleeing
from your mission,
first from the scene
when you O Lord was
arrested that he left his
linen cloth behind
and then during the
missionary journey of
Paul and Barnabas
when he left them
and went back to
Jerusalem.
But, it was his youthfulness
that pushed him too to dare and
write the first gospel account;
how wonderful that he is
represented by the lion
as he began his gospel with
the fulfillment of the prophecy of
Isaiah in John the Baptist as
"the voice crying in the wilderness"
like the lion.
Every time we dare to cry
and shout in the wilderness
of your coming, dear Jesus,
your gospel comes,
your gospel is fulfilled;
every time we overcome
our immaturities
and recklessness,
you become present;
every time we imitate you,
Jesus, we write the gospel!
Let us clothe ourselves
with humility in our dealings
with one another, resisting
the devil by being steadfast
in our faith in you (1 Peter 5:5, 9).
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Third Week of Easter, 24 April 2023
Acts 6:8-15 ><)))*> + <*(((>< John 6:22-29
Photo by author, La Mesa Eco Park seen from OLFU-Quezon City campus at Hilltop Subdivision, January 2023.
Many times
people ask me
how your face looks like,
Lord?
Often I tell them you
are spirit like the angels
without a physical face
as we know so well
but even I, dear Lord,
wonder too how your face
really looks like.
Today's first reading
does not give us a direct
answer to that but somehow
helps us a lot in finding
the meaning of what's
in a face, inviting us to
face our face.
All who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him (Stephen) and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Acts 6:15
In Genesis,
we are told you created us
in your image and likeness,
O God, the crowning glory
of all your creation;
image and likeness imply a face,
an identity, a recognition;
O Lord, help us to find your face,
to imitate your face,
to have a face like yours
that must be totally
different from the face
of those in the Sanhedrin
who looked intently at Stephen.
How sad that it is either we
could not look at the face of
others because of lack of interest
or with anger and suspicion that we
look intently for the wrong reason;
what a face we have filled
with malevolence and negativities,
locked in ourselves unlike the face of
an angel, your face that must be aglow
with love and joy, openness and
kindness!
On the other hand,
like those people looking
for Jesus who found him at
Capernaum, we also have
a thick face, a shameless one
that sees the other face for self-interests;
no matter how we hide what's
in our heart, the face would
always show and radiate
what is inside us!
And so we pray,
dear Jesus today,
as we face another week
of work and studies,
another week of showing
our face, looking or avoiding
other's faces, let us face
the truth within us
by purifying our hearts
of our pride so that our
face may be filled with warmth
and tenderness to reflect
your presence in our hearts.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter, 18 April 2023
My 25th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood
As I have shared this photo with you last Sunday,
I composed this prayer during our Ignatian 30-Day retreat
in the summer of 1995. It has always been my prayer
ever since. But now more than ever,
it has become more true!
In the past 25 years,
"It is the Lord" (Jn. 21:7)
whom I have seen coming to me in the people
I have met in my ministry;
in fact, even long before I became a priest
I have realized it was also the Lord
whom I have met among the people
in my entire life who led me closer to him
that I finally got ordained 25 years ago.
Likewise, "It is the Lord"
present too in my many moments
in life when it is dark like the night
with fruitless catch of fish (Jn. 21:3);
And so today,
all I want is to praise and thank the Lord
for always finding me when I
get lost, when I turn away from him,
when I insist on my plans.
"It is the Lord"
who is most loving and merciful,
most patient and kind of all
that is why I am still a priest today.
Thank you for making me see the Lord in you
here in the net too!
Your writings and photos,
prayers and reflections
have enabled me to see him clearly,
love him dearly,
and follow him closely.
Amen.
God bless you all!
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Easter, 17 April 2023
Acts 4:23-31 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> John 3:1-8
Photo by author, sunrise at Bolinao, Pangasinan, 18 April 2022.
When is a prayer powerful,
Lord Jesus Christ?
Many times in prayer,
I shake and tremble in fear;
afraid of what would happen
next, if things would work out
in my favor or not.
Many times in prayer,
I rationalize, not really
understanding your words
like Nicodemus.
Many times in prayer,
Lord, I remain here below
on earth, could not level up
with you, of being above,
of being born again.
How I wish I could pray
like Peter and John with your
early followers after their
release from prison!
And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:24, 29-31
How beautiful was that scene, Lord:
your followers were of one accord,
praying for courage and boldness,
most especially for "healing"
of your people as many continued
to resist change;
and the place "shook" while they
were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let us not be shaken by events, Lord;
shake our world and fill us with your
Holy Spirit to heal each one. Amen.
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