The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 08 December 2021
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual at Santuario di Greccio, Rieti, Italy in 2019.
Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father
in giving us a Mother in Mary
who gave birth to your Son Jesus
in order to save us from our sins!
Indeed, nothing is impossible
with you, dear God as you willed
Mary to be conceived immaculately
free from any sin to be pure and
clean to receive Jesus in her womb.
Because of that, she is rightly
called as our "advocate of grace"
and "model of holiness" for through
her, your life and blessings overflowed
upon us in Christ's coming.
And so, we pray to you, Father
in the name of Jesus our Lord
for all the people who have been
channels of your grace to us
like Mary: our beloved mothers and
fathers who brought us forth into this
world and nurtured us in your love,
still patiently bearing all of life's
beatings and sufferings for our own
good and comfort; we pray for our
siblings, especially our elder brothers
and sisters who have faithfully acted as
our parents too after they were gone
who ensured our safety and well-being,
our sources of joy when life is rough;
we pray for our friends who have remained
faithful by our side through thick and
thin, still believing in us despite our sins
and failures; we pray for our employers
and superiors and colleagues at work
who give us the chance to earn our
living with dignity and honor so we can
keep ourselves and loved ones warm and
secured specially in this time of the pandemic.
Most of all, we pray for your Holy Spirit,
dear Father, to always enlighten our
minds and our hearts so that like Mary
we may always be open to Christ's
coming not only to share him with
others but most of all like Mary his Mother,
we too may be conformed in him
our Savior as you have willed since
the beginning. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-6 ng Disyembre 2021
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa San Fernando, Pampanga, 18 Nobyembre 2021.
Taun-taon,
halos lahat ng tao
nasasabik sa Pasko
palaging inaabangan
sa mga countdown.
Ngunit bakit nga ba
inaabangan natin ang Pasko?
Petsa lamang ba ito
at panahon na dumarating,
lumilipas din?
Kung gayon lang ang Pasko,
bakit hindi na lang tayo
magbilang ng araw
Bagong Taon pa man?
Higit sa petsa
at panahon ang Pasko
dahil ito ay ang Diyos na naging Tao;
ang Pasko ay si Hesu-Kristo
na sumilang noon sa mundo
at dumarating pa rin sa puso
ng bawat tao kaya't itong Pasko
ay isang katotohanan, isang kaganapan
nang ang Diyos ay makialam
at pumasok sa ating kaguluhan,
pinunan marami nating kakulangan,
pinawi mga kasalanan, pinalitan
ng kanyang kabanalan upang
buhay natin ay maging makabuluhan.
Sa panahon pa ring ito
ng pandemya, sana atin nang
mapagtanto ang Pasko
ay hindi tanong ng kung ANO
kungdi ng kung SINO inaabangan
na tanging si Hesu-Kristo,
dumarating hindi sa sabsaban
kungdi sa ating puso at kalooban
kung saan nagmumula ating mga
gulo at kadiliman; sikaping matagpuan
Kanyang bakas sa ating mga mukha
upang tayo'y makipag-kapwa at
maranasan Kanyang kapanatilihan
kesa tayo magbilang ng mga petsa at buwan.
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa San Fernando, Pampanga, 18 Nobyembre 2021.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 05 December 2021
Photo by author, sunrise at the Lake of Galilee, Israel, May 2019.
Lately everybody has been saying “Christmas is around the corner” or “Christmas is in the air” or simply “It’s Christmas”! This is the time of the year when we are most conscious of the season not of the Person behind the celebrations.
Christmas is Jesus Christ, of God becoming human like us, of God dwelling and living among us.
Christmas is the nearness of God among us.
That is why as we get closer to Christmas on this Second Sunday of Advent, we have chosen the very popular and lovely song The Nearness of You written in 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington to remind us of the Person of God so near among us ( see our reflection https://lordmychef.com/2021/12/04/advent-is-being-small-and-simple/).
Covered by so many artists since its debut in the 1938 movie Romance in the Dark, The Nearness of You has been covered since then by so many artists. Our favorite is still Frank Sinatra’s and this duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
The song is very short but very touching because it is person-oriented which is what Christmas is all about, of God in Jesus Christ getting closest to man and vice-versa.
It’s not the pale moon That excites me That thrills and delights me Oh no It’s just the nearness of you
It isn’t your sweet conversation That brings this sensation Oh no It’s just the nearness of you
Here we find in our relationships, whether with God or with others, the importance of being small, of being humble before everyone to be absorbed by the magic of the moment, of the relationship. When we look at the stars and the moon above us at night or watch a majestic sunrise or sunset, we experience our littleness yet it is in that being small when we also feel our greatness. It is in that being small when we feel so aware of our very selves, of others around us and of this beautiful world.
It is the same story of Christmas, of Christ born a Child on a lowly manger. Most of all, before his coming, there was also John the Baptist his Precursor who went to the desert to become small before God in preparing the way of the Lord.
On this Second Week of Advent we are reminded of God’s nearness among us if we can be small like John in the wilderness who preached the need to repent our sins to make a space within us for the coming Jesus Christ. Amen.
*We have no intentions of infringing into the copyrights of this music and its uploader except to share its beauty and listening pleasure.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, Priest, 03 December 2021
Isaiah 29:17-24 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Matthew 9:27-31
Photo by author, Mt. St. Paul, La Trinidad, Benguet, 2020.
Your words today, O God,
are so Fatherly - comforting
and reassuring of your great
promises of redemption and
liberation from sin and miseries;
your words are so "homey" too -
help us this Season of Advent to find
our way back home to you, O loving
God our Father!
Inasmuch as your words today
also speak of seeing and hearing,
make us feel at home first with
our very selves, to be at home with
who we really are, especially with our
past that no matter how dark or
painful life may have been, we are loved
most specially by you - no ifs, no buts.
Bring us home to you, Father, free from
any shame at who we really are!
Thus says the Lord God: but a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard shall be regarded as a forest! On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and our of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall his face grow pale.
Isaiah 29:17-19, 22
I wonder, Lord, how so often
I feel one of those two blind men
who have followed you into your
house - of how you first lead me into you,
into your presence, into your love
and mercy and forgiveness before
you make me see and hear again.
Thank you dear Jesus for always
coming to us even if so many times
we do not see nor notice you passing by
especially through others; grant us the
zeal of St. Francis Xavier in reaching out
to others specially this season amid the
pandemic; may we try to see you among
one another as we listen to each one's
cries of pains and joys.
Most specially, let us keep our eyes
and ears and hearts open like St. Francis
Xavier who always believed in your
presence and providence even in the most
difficult and alienating situations
in life because he has always been
at home with you. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, 23 November 2021
Daniel 2:31-45, ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Luke 21:5-11
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
Glory and praise to you,
our loving and almighty
God and Father!
Your power and might,
majesty and grandeur are
all around us, even deep
within each one of us and yet,
still many deny your presence,
deny your existence.
Enter our consciousness, Lord,
enter our dreams like with
King Nebuchadnezzar to remind us
nothing remains here on earth,
that you are always greater, O God,
"semper major"!
In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end t0 them, and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 2:44
Even your Son Jesus Christ
reminded us through the apostles
how everything would crumble and
fall, including your Temple at
Jerusalem, putting an end to everything
until he comes again to bring upon us
new heaven and new earth.
And so, grant us, Lord,
perseverance and fidelity
to remain humble before you
like St. Clement who bore all sufferings
during the persecution but remained
faithful to you, calling on the early Church
he led as Pope at that time to remain
one in you, our only Rock foundation
in faith, hope and love. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus, King of the Universe, 21 November 2021
Daniel 7:13-14 ><]]]]'> Revelation 1:5-8 ><]]]]'> John 18:33-37
Photo by GMA-7’s Mr. Raffy Tima, 07 November 2021.
We now come to the final Sunday of our liturgical calendar, leading us to our “new year” next Sunday with the Season of Advent. See how we in the Church begin and end every liturgical year: in the four Sundays of Advent we prepare the coming of Jesus the “King of kings” and now we close the year with the Solemnity of Christ the King.
But despite this emphasis of our celebrations on the kingship of Jesus, many people still refuse to recognize him as King while more others are not clear yet of his kind of kingship. Until now, the same scene of Jesus being tried by Pilate continues to happen when we put Christ on trial, questioning him if he were truly a king.
Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world…”
John 18:33-36
“Ecce Homo” painting by Murillo from commons.wikimedia.org.
So many times in life, we keep asking God with many questions but we cannot take his answers. Instead of being contented with what he tells us, we even feel slighted when it is God who wishes to clarify our questions.
Jesus asked Pilate whether his question was really his own or due to others’ perception because to recognize Jesus as King is ultimately to recognize his very person as the Son of God, true God and true man who became like us so we may become like him.
Every Sunday this year, Mark (and John for six weeks) step by step presented to us like an unfolding the identity of Jesus who “spoke with authority” unlike the scribes and priests of his time, mighty in power and in deeds who could command the sea and the winds, heal the sick and bring back to life the dead. This Sunday, all questions by the disciples and the people “who is this man” are answered with finality by Jesus himself.
Photo by author, Chapel of St. John at Cana, Galilee, 2019.
Evidently in our readings and in our own lives, we have experienced Jesus always in control, truly a king in total command especially in hopeless situations like when there was a great crowd with just a handful of bread or when they were caught in a violent storm in the middle of the sea.
Like the Prophet Daniel and the beloved disciple John in the first two readings, we need to have their conviction in God’s very person first.
Daniel lived at the time of severe trials when King Antiochus of Greece invaded Israel, desecrated the Temple of Jerusalem, and killed so many Jews who refused to worship idols and eat pork. It was the topic last week’s daily first readings from the Book of Maccabees.
Despite those very difficult times, Daniel saw in his vision his very conviction of the coming of God’s Messiah called “Son of man” – the title Jesus adopted top himself – who would deliver Israel from their enemies with his “everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed” (Dn. 7:14).
In a similar way, John expressed his conviction and faith in God through Jesus Christ in his vision of the Lord’s “coming amid the clouds…even those who pierced him”, calling him “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who and who was and who is to come, the almighty” (Rev.1:7, 8).
In both visions by the prophets who not only saw and spoke the words of God but most of all, lived out his very words that they made God’s will happened, there is no doubt of the kingship of Jesus Christ as the God of history, its origin and final destination. Both Daniel and John were convinced of the very person of God, of the One who has the final say in this life through Jesus Christ and whose powers reign supreme from the past to the present and into the future.
And so, never lose hope in life and its various aspects, from the simplest to the most complex. There is nothing that God cannot prevail upon for he got us all in his hands. Most of all, Jesus had triumphed over death and sin. Let us have that faith and conviction in him.
But there is still something deeper in that trial of Jesus by Pilate we also repeat in our own time: it reveals not only the tensions about the spiritual and material realms, of the kingdom of God and of the kingdom of men but also of our own self-identity.
So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
John 18:37
Photo by author, Chapel of the Holy Family, Sacred Heart Spirituality Center, Novaliches, QC, 2016.
At the crux of the trial of Jesus – then and now – is man’s usurpation of power as “king” of the world, as captain of his ship and master of his fate, of his obsession to break free from God, crowning himself as the king of the world. It is a question that boils down to issues with our own identity.
Notice the “irritation” of Pilate with the question of Jesus, trying to separate and distance himself from Jesus, as if he was different, not one of them but immediately in the course of their conversation, Pilate himself would conclude that “then, you are a king” – a self indictment to himself that also answered his question to Jesus!
Here is the irony, the twist in our pursuit to assert our very selves as the one in charge in life, in this world like Pilate when we fall into our own traps against God. The more we run away from him, the more we separate ourselves from him and refuse to do anything with him, eventually we swallow our own pride before God, confessing that indeed, he is the Boss, the one in charge.
And that is the truth, something inherent in us, something we cannot shrug off and deny.
Jesus is our King because he has made us into his kingdom, the very reason he was born and came into the world, to testify to this truth.
Truth in the bible means the path to follow. And that is who Jesus is, the way because he is the truth and the life (Jn.4:16). Without him, we are nothing. And the path he shows us is the path of the Cross which he had repeatedly explained to us these last two months.
“Losing one’s head/self in prayer”, photo by GMA7 News Ms. JJ Jimeno, 2019.
In this Solemnity of Christ the King, Jesus reminds us of this basic truth we always evade, of how he invites us to elevate or “level up” our lives and existence in him through the Cross. The sooner we accept and embrace his Cross, the sooner we experience his kingship and great power over our lives.
The main stumbling block why people cannot accept or are confused that Jesus Christ is our King is our refusal to accept or denial of the path of the Cross of Jesus. Power in the world is always equated with force and prestige, in the ability to dominate and subdue others.
How amazing, how wonderful to see our almighty and powerful King took the path of powerlessness to show us his immense power. Let it be a reminder to each one of us to imitate and follow that path. Most of all, to never lose hope especially at this time when so many fake kings and wannabe kings abound, making all promises without having proven anything at all and worst, lacking the moral integrity to lead.
It is now in our very hands, if we are truly the followers of Christ the King that “we make his kingdom come and his will be done here on earth like in heaven” by taking the decisive steps to witness his Cross and sufferings by standing and abiding by his very truth. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Week XXXIII, Year I in Ordinary Time, 19 November 2021
1 Maccabees 4:3-37, 52-59 ><)))*> + <*(((>< Luke 19:45-48
Photo by Ms. Ria De Vera, November 2020.
Today you remind us, dear God
our Father, of the need to keep our
house of worship always in order,
clean and sacred; like Judas and
his brothers who rededicated and purified
your Temple in Jerusalem after driving
away the pagans, may we also keep
in mind that your house of worship is
always indicative of the kind of relationship
and faith we have in you.
While it is very true you dwell in us
your people, O God, for we are indeed
your temple, we cannot discount the fact
that the way our church buildings and facilities
look like show the kind of people we are,
of how much care and respect we have for you
and for one another; buildings and material
structures of any church and house of worship
always reflect the spirituality or lack of it
of the pastors who minister and the
people who celebrate and worship there.
It is in this manner we become truly
your very temple!
Cleanse our hearts in Jesus Christ,
may he dwell in our hearts and reign
over us so that we the people, the
body of believers become your true
temple dear God, no matter what others
may say for or against us like the chief
priests, scribes and leaders of the
people during the time of Jesus.
Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Leo the Great, Pope, 10 November 2021
Wisdom 6:1-11 ><)))*> + ><)))*> + ><)))*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by author, November 2020.
Glory and praise to you,
God our almighty Father
in making us share in your
great powers in this world.
Remind us always that whatever
power we have is all from you
meant to serve others and not
to hurt nor overcome them.
For the Lord of all shows no partiality, nor does does he fear greatness, because he himself made the great as well as the small, and he provides for all alike; but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends. To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin.
Wisdom 6:7-9
We are all leaders, O Lord,
whom you have tasked to care
for one another, be it a family
or a community, a nation or
an institution like the Church;
may we learn from the wisdom
of St. Leo the Great, a Pope
who early on realized his vast
powers were meant to uplift the
poor and the needy, to save cities
from destruction by the invading
barbarians, and most of all, to unite
peoples for peace and maturity.
Like St. Leo the Great, may we learn
to imitate Jesus in using his power from
you to empower others, to enable
the weak and the sick to "stand up
and go" (Lk.17:19) like the Samaritan
leper he had healed. Amen.
It is a very lovely first Sunday of November with so many good things happening around us with the decreasing number of COVID-19 patients and lowering of our alert level. Enjoy and appreciate life but keep your guard, stay safe, practice health protocols, and thank God, remember God for his blessings!
This Sunday Jesus is inviting us to level up, to make a shift in our perspectives and points of view (POV) on wealth and poverty, sharing and grandstanding, on our life in relation with one another, and most especially with God our Father (https://lordmychef.com/2021/11/06/life-is-more-than-pov/).
And that is why we have chosen the cool and soothing jazz piece by American musician and artist Jeff Klemmer called “Lifesong” released in 1980 from his album Midnight Madness.
In this piece with vocals by Danny O’Keefe, Klemmer gives tribute to his beloved wherein he expressed how his entire music has been his expression of great love for her, of how he had let himself be absorbed in her that he gave his very self to her and his music. The song could also be referring to Klemmer’s music which he loves so much.
The lyrics are simple and noble, sincere and honest that perfectly match the melody and relaxing beat of the music interspersed with Klemmer’s saxophone.
I’ve been living all my life Living just to play for you Playing all the words I could never say
But the music says it all And you know that it’s true, yes you do That I have to play the words That I can’t say to you
It’s a life heard through a horn It all comes from the heart, you see All the ways you stay Together & a part of me
All my life I’ve played for keeps What else could I do I’ve played it all for love When I played it all for you
In essence, both Klemmer and Jesus are telling us that the key to fulfillment in life is when we are able to give our total selves to the one we love, when we are able to love someone more than our self for that is when life becomes truly rewarding.
Many times, we cannot let go of our self and personal interests that actually hold us back from growing and maturing. Life is about giving up, of total giving of self.
Have a blessed week ahead!
*We have no intentions of infringing into the copyrights of this music and its uploader except to share its beauty and listening pleasure.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Sunday XXXII-B in Ordinary Time, 07 November 2021
1 Kings 17:10-16 ><]]]]'> Hebrews 9:24-28 ><]]]]'> Mark 12:38-44
Perspectives and points of view play important roles in our lives, affecting our judgements and conduct; however, we also know by experience that perspectives and points of view are not enough, cannot be entirely reliable that lead us into stereotyping of people.
I just learned recently from the teenaged daughters of a friend that the #POV for “point of view” may be used in two ways: first, to express “this is my personal point of view” to which everyone is entitled that should not be contradicted because “it is how I see things”; the second is to present a “first person point of view”, that is, through the eyes of the one who uploads a video to show exactly how things are like the first steps of a baby.
This Sunday, Jesus is challenging our perspectives, our #POV on wealth and poverty, sharing and grandstanding, on our selves before God and other people.
Since last month we have seen how Jesus refused to get into debates with people on persistent issues humans have always been discussing like divorce (Oct.3), power and positions (Oct. 17), and the most important laws to follow (Oct. 31) because Jesus came to reveal to us the will of the Father so we may level up in our perceptions about self, others, and life itself.
Jesus was still in the temple area; he had silenced his enemies from asking him further with other questions to test him. After going on the offensive attacking the scribes’ hypocrisies, Jesus sat to observe the people dropped their donations into the temple treasury.
He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
Mark 12:41-44
Photo by author, Jerusalem, 2017.
A Tale of Two Widows
Before going into that story of the widow praised by Jesus, let us consider first the story of another widow mentioned earlier in our first reading, the widow of Zarephath, a region governed by Queen Jezebel’s father. Queen Jezebel was the pagan wife of Israel’s King Ahab who had ordered troops to kill Elijah after putting to shame the priests of her pagan god “baal”.
After 40 days of hiding in the mountain fed by birds with a stream providing him fresh water, God instructed Elijah to proceed to Zarephath to meet the widow who would take care of him during the drought that would come as a punishment to Israel.
More than the miracle of living through the year of drought that hit the region at that time, it is a marvelous story of the faith of both Elijah and the pagan widow. We can understand the deep faith and total obedience of Elijah to God who had told him everything that would happen while hiding in enemy territory.
Things were greatly different with the widow of Zarephath who was first of all a pagan, in fact, a worshipper of the false god baal Elijah had openly bashed in every occasion everywhere. Her faith is so admirable that she risked her own life including her son in welcoming into her home an enemy of their king. Most of all, she put her complete faith in the words of God spoken through Elijah whom she hardly knew.
She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.
1 Kings 17:15-16
In a very similar manner, it was the very nature of faith of the simple and poor widow at the temple treasury that earned praises from Jesus. Keep in mind that money was meant for the upkeep of the Temple, not for the poor; therefore, the very act of donating money into the treasury was in fact an act of faith by the poor widow on God. She was convinced that her offering goes directly to God himself!
It is in this aspect that we must see the whole point of the story which is not about big money and small coins but our personal attitude and faith in giving that is ultimately linked with God. Every amount we offer to church and charities indicates the kind of relationship we have with God.
Jesus had nothing against giving “large sums” of money to the temple collection box; it was not the amount of donation he was raising issue with as he contrasted how the rich “have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
It is always easy to honor God – even self – with one’s huge donations while still relying on our false securities of money and wealth unlike the poor widow who offered her very self to God. In a sense, Jesus had seen in the poor widow’s offering his coming total gift of self on the Cross soon to happen at Jerusalem!
The beauty of both women, widow and poor having lived in totally different times – one in Zarephath, a pagan and another in Jerusalem, so pious and religious – is in their total entrusting of themselves to God, forgetting their very selves in the process, unmindful of the dangers and uncertainties ahead in life except that firm faith in a loving and merciful God.
From Facebook, 24 March 2020.
Our many concerns in life
I was recently interviewed for a special program that focuses on our lives as priests. At the end of the interview, I was asked by the hosts: “what legacy do I wish to leave after my term of office in my present assignment”? It was not really a difficult question at all but I was surprised because that such was the frame of mind of my interviewers. Their perspective and POV, so to speak.
After a few seconds, I politely told them that I no longer think such things as legacies to leave behind even in this life, explaining that priesthood is a journey wherein we come and leave to different assignments and tasks with just one purpose which is to make Jesus Christ known and experienced by the people we serve. After every assignment, I tell people to forget me and that is why I never come to visit my previous assignments. For me, it is only Jesus, always Jesus whom people must remember and keep. No one else, nothing else.
That I think is discipleship: a shift in our perspectives and points of view into God’s very own perspectives and POV wherein we present ourselves before God and not before humans.
Discipleship in Christ does not mean doing great things nor achieving heroic feats in life; God knows our limits, our weaknesses. We are all small and poor before him like those two widows in Zarephath and Jerusalem; but, if we can be like them completely trusting and faithful to God, giving our very selves to him, then, the little amount we offer can eventually accomplish the love and mercy God expects from us.
See the many concerns we have in life. The more we address them, the less we actually have in life like those abusive scribes Jesus mentioned: they have everything like status and fame, clothes and money but have lost God and the people while the poor may have nothing material but have everything in Jesus Christ.
That is what the author of the Letter to the Hebrews is telling us in the second reading: in the Priesthood of Christ, he had accomplished everything for us by offering himself on the Cross, forgiving us our sins to lead us to eternal life. Like Jesus, are we willing to give our very selves to him through others so we may gain him and everything?
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