The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 01 July 2024
Amos 2:6-10, 13-16     <*((((><<  + >><))))*>     Matthew 8:18-22

Glory and praise to You,
God our loving Father for this
brand new month of July;
we have passed the first half of
2024, help us to make good of its
remaining six months, most especially 
in finding ways to address and mitigate
if not eradicate the social injustices
that continue to happen among us
since 3000 years ago your Prophet Amos
had denounced.

Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name (Amos 2:6-7).

What a shame, O God,
how this passage written
in 750 BC remains still the same
these days; give us the sincerity
to confront our selves,
to look into our own lives
to see how these accusations
can be thrown against us too;
let us realize there can be no
real love of God nor even true religion
without the practice of justice
and loving concern for the
weak and marginalized.

Give us the will
to have Jesus our priority in life
in order to build a more humane
and just society in this imperfect world,
instead of relying on our abilities
and expertise as well as comfort 
and ease; both Amos and Jesus
have showed that doing the work
of God is always other-centered, 
entails a lot of sacrifices and 
suffering so that we decrease
and lose our very selves for
God through others.
Amen.