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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin & Martyr, 21 January 2025 Hebrews 6:10-20 <'[[[[>< + ><]]]]'> Mark 2:23-28
Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones… This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil, where Jesus entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:10,19-20).
What a beautiful passage, so reassuring and timely in this Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 with the theme of Hope; in this world where promises are often made to be broken than kept, thank you dear Jesus in assuring us of your keeping your promises.
Like the anchor that keeps a ship or a boat stable while moored, you O Lord Jesus Christ as our anchor keeps us filled with hope because you never disappoint like most humans.
Forgive us, dear Jesus, when we anchor our hopes in rituals and things like the Pharisees who were so focused on the letters about sabbath, forgetting its essence as a good news, a break, a release and freedom from the burdens of work and time to be attentive to God our very root and life.
Forgive us, dear Jesus, when we are so afraid not to break rules but we break persons, we break promises to love and to be kind with one another; grant us the grace of courage to persevere holding on to your promises in the gospel like St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr who opened herself to your Spirit because you alone, O Christ is able to "reach into the interior behind the veil" of the temple into the very presence of God in Heaven.
Grant us, O Lord, a true sabbath, a break from our harsh judgments of others based simply on incomplete videos and stories. Amen.
