Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, 09 December 2025 Isaiah 40:1-11 ><))))*> + ><))))*> + ><))))*> Matthew 18:12-14
Today you ask me Lord Jesus something so ordinary yet so profound: "What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?" (Matthew 18:12)
So many times dear Jesus I feel like you, the Good Shepherd: I feel uneasy the moment one of my sheep or anything or anyone is missing, is lost, is nowhere to be found; there is that sense of emptiness, of incompleteness, of lacking when someone or something is missing and like you, I would leave everything just to find that one missing!
In my opinion, as you ask me now, Lord Jesus, I feel you coming, I feel you searching me the moment I am lost, or simply feeling distant and unsure of the path and direction to take in life, or sometimes feeling scattered; Advent is God not waiting for us to go back but you coming to find us!
“And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost” (Matthew 18:13-14).
Advent is you, Lord Jesus coming and looking for us; on this Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, I pray dear Jesus for those who feel a part of them is lost or missing; help us find our way back home to you; let us not stray further away but finally follow you back in our selfish and closed self. Amen.
