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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 04 October 2024
Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5     <*{{{{><  +  ><}}}}*>     Luke 10:13-16

As we celebrate today the
memorial of St. Francis of Assisi
in the light of our first reading
from the Book of Job,
You open our eyes anew
O God our loving Father
into your unfathomable mystery
of majesty and love for us.

Like Job,
we ask many questions
not really because we complain
to You but simply we have no one else
to turn to; we have so many questions
in life and we are willing to wait if ever
there would be any answer at all
but one thing for sure,
we are certain You have all the answers.

Be patient with our many whys, 
O God, for we have no any reply
to any of your single question
"Have you ever in your lifetime commanded
the morning and shown the dawn its place...?
Have you entered into the sources
of the sea, or walked about in the depths
of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth
of the earth? Tell me if you know all" 
(Job 38:12, 16-18). 

Like St. Francis of Assisi,
give us the grace to dare follow
your Son Jesus Christ not only
in humility and poverty 
but most especially in His Cross;
forgive us, Father
and let us do away with all the
"sentimentality" cultivated by
nature lovers including "new agers"
on St. Francis' love for nature
rooted in Christ's sufferings and
commitment to a poor and simple life.

Like Job
and St. Francis who 
lovingly embraced Jesus with
His Cross, may we also realize our
"smallness" before you, O Lord
in our trials and sufferings to experience
at the same time the joy and glory
in comprehending the "breadth 
and length
and height 
and depth" 
of Christ's love
that surpasses knowledge
so that we may be filled with
your fullness,
dear God
(Ephesians 3:18).
Amen.