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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr, 22 November 2023 2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 19:11-28
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father! Today I pray to you for the gift of a "noble spirit" like that courageous mother of seven brothers who died on the same day before her as she extolled them to resist temptations and remained faithful to you: "Filled with a noble sprit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage" (2 Maccabees 7:21).
What a beautiful description of that woman's great courage and faith in you, dear God!
Give us a noble spirit, Lord, a selfless soul that thinks more of others than one's self especially in this age when we are so self-conscious and conceited with our bloated egos always on the take, as if the world revolves around us; a soul that is not selfish and other centered because of deep faith and trust in you, Father.
Stir your noble spirit in us, Lord; let us find anew our moral compass, our moral grounding in you and your laws especially in this age when "everything and anything goes" regardless of morals and virtues, an age that glorifies every person as a universe in himself, crowning himself as god, yet so afraid of the truth, so ignorant of freedom, without any idea of the real meaning of living and loving that in the end, could not accept death.
Like that courageous woman and St. Cecilia, stir the noble spirit within us, Lord Jesus, to embrace wholeheartedly our being human, our being finite, our being-towards-death so that we may start living as you have taught us by giving and sharing ourselves and everything we have in order to be fulfilled, by facing death so that we may live in you. Amen.
