God, our dew of light

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 18 July 2024
Isaiah 26: 7-9, 12, 16-19 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Matthew 11:28-30

Your words today,
O God, are so refreshing
that I wish to pray like your
Prophet Isaiah:
"The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil
for you; 
For your dew
is a dew of light,
and the land of shades
gives birth"
(Isaiah 26:7, 9, 19).

Freshen us, O Lord,
from our dirt and exhaustion
from sin! 

Refresh our thoughts
and our feelings, make them
crystal clear like the dew
in the morning to see your
kindness and mercy!

Gladden our hearts,
uplift our souls
with your presence in
Christ Jesus who calls us
daily to come to Him
and have rest,
because His yoke is easy,
His burden is light
(Matthew 11:28-30).

Let us surrender to You
in Jesus Christ 
for there is no salvation
outside from You except in Him;
so true are the words of Isaiah:
"As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pains, 
so were we in your presence, O Lord.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind; salvation 
we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world
cannot bring it forth.
But your dead shall live,
their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, 
you who lie in the dust"
(Isaiah 11: 17-19).

Teach us to appreciate
and value the little things in life
we take for granted 
like the droplets of dew in the morning
enough to set our face aglow again
of new beginnings; in coming to us,
Jesus taught us the value of being
small, being little,
being silent, being humble
when life begins
and regenerates always.
Let us arise anew in Jesus
from our deep sleep in sin
through His dew of light, 
a glimmer of better days ahead.
Amen.

*Photo by Cosmin Petrisor on Pexels.com*

Great Silence

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Holy Saturday, 30 March 2024

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 20 March 2024.*

Teach us to be silent today, 
God our Father, 
as we remember your Son 
Jesus Christ’s Great Silence – 
Magnum Silentium – 
when he was “crucified, 
died and was buried; 
he descended to the dead 
and on the third day 
he rose again.”

On this Holy Saturday, 
your whole creation comes to full circle. 
In the beginning, 
after completing your work of creation, 
you rested on the seventh day 
and made it holy (Gen.2:3). 

On the seventh day 
after completing his mission here on earth, 
Jesus Christ was laid to rest.

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, 19 March 2024.*

Silence and rest always go together.

Let us realize, Father,
that to be silent 
is not merely to be quiet 
but to listen more to Your voice 
coming from the depths of our being; hence, 
silence is not emptiness 
but fullness with You, dear God. 
It is in silence 
where we truly discover 
our selves and others too.

Likewise, 
to rest is not merely to stop work 
nor stop from being busy; 
we rest to reconnect with You 
to be filled with your Holy Spirit. 

You do not rest, O God, 
because you never get tired; 
it is us who need to rest 
so we may continue 
Your work of creation and, 
now of redemption 
and renewal by Jesus Christ.

When we rest, 
we return to Eden, 
like the garden where Jesus was buried:

“Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by” (Jn. 19:41-42).
John 19:41-42

How beautiful is that image, 
dear Father, 
of Your rest and silence in Eden 
and of Jesus laid to rest 
at a tomb in a garden: 
to rest in silence is therefore 
when we stop playing God 
as we return to You 
as Your image and likeness again!

God,
we are afraid of silence 
because we are also afraid
of the truth, of trusting You;
Jesus was crucified because
we have always been 
afraid to trust You 
and be truthful to You and 
ourselves.

Teach us to be like the women 
who rested on the sabbath 
when Jesus was laid to rest; 
like them, may we trust You more 
by being true to ourselves.

The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.
Luke 23:55-56

May your silence and rest reassure us that we shall rise with you again. Amen.

Refresh in Christ

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr, 12 November 2020
Philemon 7-20 >><)))*> + >><)))*> + >><)))*> Luke 17:20-25

How beautiful are your words, O Lord Jesus, today from St. Paul to Philemon! So techie! So timely:

Refresh my heart in Christ.
Philemon 20

As we continue to practice some forms of quarantine with the ongoing pandemic, help us, O dear Jesus to find time to “refresh – or reset – our hearts in you” like what we do we with our devices and gadgets when they “hang” and would not function properly.

Time and again have shown us how we have had too much of technologies and social media lately that have turned us away from you and from one another.

Teach us like Philemon and Onesimus, and St. Josaphat that true faith in you and the gospel demand changes in our social circumstances and conditions when our relationships with one another go beyond gender, race, and even religions and beliefs.

Let us refresh or reset our hearts in you, Jesus, and break all barriers that keep us apart from each other, preventing us to see the coming of the kingdom of God in you even if we have to pay this with our blood like St. Josaphat in trying to unite the Ukrainian Church and Rome. Amen.