When getting technical & legal, we forget our personal relationships

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of San Roque (St. Rock/Roche), Healer, 16 August 2024
Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     Matthew 19:3-12

God our loving Father,
thank you for the gift of personhood,
for your gift of personal relationship
with each one of us;
your servant St. John Paul II
defined a person as a 
"full, conscious, relating being."

Very true but sadly,
we never recognize your gift
of personhood,
of our being a person
and its fruit of relationships;
instead of looking into the
heart and soul of every one of us,
we prefer to see each one
in the mind, in the letter,
in the technical than personal:

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” (Matthew 19:3)

Soften our hearts, Jesus;
take away our stony hearts
and give us natural hearts
that beats with firm faith,
fervent hope in You,
and unceasing charity for everyone.

Forgive us for being so captivated
by our own beauty and prowess,
remove our confusion
and let us be silenced for shame
(Ezekiel 16:15, 63)
to remember your covenant
by appreciating and being open
to your gift of person and relationships
by striving to keep this alive
despite our many flaws and sins.
Amen.

St. Rock,
pray for us so infected
by another kind of pestilence
of pandemic proportion when
we see persons as objects
and make objects like persons.
Amen.