Walking in Jesus

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 09 September 2025
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest
Colossians 2:6-15     ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*>     Luke 6:12-19

*Photo by Ms. Marissa L. Flores in Switzerland, September 2024.*

Lord Jesus,
thank you for calling me today;
like your Apostles,
I felt you called me by name too!
So lovely,
so reassuring,
but also challenging
to me: what if I can't 
keep with your pace
because I get tired,
or simply feel so afraid
of being hurt,
of being laughed at,
of being misunderstood,
of being rejected?

Brothers and sisters: As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7).

To walk in you, Jesus
is to forget myself,
to be always on the main road
 not at the sides
where it is safe and comfortable;
to walk in you, Jesus
is to forget myself
and think of those others
on the streets who could not
walk in you for so many reasons
with some of them already down
 and dying on the road;
to walk in you, Jesus
is to carry my Cross
and that is to love until
it hurts like you.

*Photo by Mr. Jay Javier, Quiapo, 09 January 2020.*

It is in walking in you,
Jesus that I can be rooted
in you; help me to remain near
and close to you not only 
for me to imitate you
and be rooted in you
but most especially for you
to remind me when I am not
in sync with you;
keep me rooted in you
so that I can be built
upon you by sharing your
power (Lk.6:19) of loving service
to the poor
and forgotten,
your light for those confused
and lost,
restoring those dead
to sin in your mercy
and forgiveness.
Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
(lordmychef@gmail.com)

Keeping our roots

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the BVM, 26 July 2024
Jeremiah 3:14-17 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Matthew 13:18-23

*Photo by author, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 19 March 2023.*

As we reel from the aftermath
of the recent storms that caused
widespread floods and affected 
so many lives,
Your words today Lord Jesus Christ
direct our thoughts 
to our roots and rootedness 
in God and with one another
especially our grandparents.

The seed sown on the rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away (Matthew 13:20-21).

How lovely that on this Memorial
of Saints Joachim and Anne,
the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and grandparents of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the gospel invites us to go back and nurture 
our roots; like any good tree planted firmly
that provides shades and food
as well as holds water when rains come,
roots evoke a sense of interconnectedness,
of trust with each other,
of our grounding in life and mission
that give direction for us in life;
without the root,
we not only wither and die
but lose sense and meaning in life;
it is in the root we find our identity
and mission;
in the root is found our true selves;
it is the root that holds us
to remain whole despite 
the many blows we encounter in life.
That is why the Prophet Jeremiah
invites us in the first reading to 
go back to God,
to be converted always.
It is not difficult to find out what kind
of people were Saints Joachim and Anne
because when we study and reflect the
writings we have about 
the Blessed Virgin Mary
and her Son Jesus Christ,
the more we discover
their roots must be so good indeed.

God our Father,
let us be rooted in You always,
finding You among the people
You gift us beginning with our
family and friends;
let us realize our roots
extend beyond people but also
with all your creation
so that we may love and care
for the blessed environment 
You have given us called Earth.
Amen.

Innovation vs. Novelty

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 15 January 2024
1 Samuel 15:16-23 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Mark 2:18-22

God our Father,
teach me to be innovative
in witnessing you,
in proclaiming you,
in making you present 
in this fast changing world
but at the same time 
still rooted in you,
obedient to you;
how sad that in our Church 
today with so many efforts 
in the guise of "creativity"
that led only to empty novelties
pretending to be attuned with the time,
many have slowly desecrated
our liturgy, our celebrations
and worst, put into question
the relevance of our 
long held beliefs and teachings 
on faith and morals; 
while we have to embrace 
change happening in the world
and in the Church,
may we not forget it is YOU,
dear Lord, whom we seek,
whom we desire,
whom we aspire 
not the social influencers
nor rock stars nor
any celebrities;
teach us to innovate in our ways
that are still rooted in you
and your precepts 
not with technology nor
with new thoughts;
may we learn to understand
your Son Jesus Christ's words
in today's gospel:

“No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22

Forgive us, dear God,
for all the novelties we have
brought even into our worship
and teachings that have detached
us more from you
and one another;
instead of fostering
openness and inclusivity,
the opposite had happened
because to win more people
is first of all to remain faithful
and obedient to you
which King Saul of Israel
had forgotten:

But Samuel said: ”Does the Lord so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:23

This New Year,
lead us back to you,
God, through our leaders
in the Church
who are faithful to you
in prayers,
in liturgy,
in teachings;
innovative 
like Jesus Christ
who fulfilled your 
Laws of Old
in the New settings.
Amen.