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Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 28 July 2025 Monday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 <*(((>< + ><)))*> Matthew 13:31-35

Lord Jesus Christ, let me be like the mustard seed, "the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full grown it is the largest of plants" (Matthew 13:32); let me be like yeast "that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened" (Matthew 13:33); let me be small, dear Jesus in this world where the rule is to be big, to be loud, to be noticed.
Let me be small silent, and hidden, like the mustard seed and the yeast because life's fullness lies in you, Jesus who comes in emptiness not fullness, in darkness not klieg lights, in silence not noise, in poverty not wealth and in simplicity not popularity and fame; true peace happens only in your Kingdom, Jesus not in the competing kingdoms of the world. When I look back in time, I have realized how those things I considered as small and insignificant both in my life and the world were the things that have grown into something that sustain and shelter others, of course with much faith, hope and love in you! Now I am older too, I have realized the value and benefits of bread but bread cannot rise to become nourishing without the lowly yeast; before I can become a bread for others like you Jesus, I need the grace to be child-like, to be little, to decrease like the yeast so that you increase, Jesus.

Let me be small, hidden and silent, Jesus, always patient in waiting for you unlike the Israelites in Sinai who made a golden calf when they became impatient with Moses' meeting with God atop the mountain; let me stop comparisons so I remain little and humble in you, Jesus who has become human and small like us to stir us to true greatness as beloved children of the Father to begin building your kingdom. Amen. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Our Lady of Fatima University Valenzuela City ([email protected])