Breaking free from our prisons

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop & Martyr, 03 February 2023
Hebrews 13:1-8   ><000'> + <'000>< = ><000'> + <'000><   Mark 6:14-29

Praise and glory to you,
O God our loving Father
in giving us your Son
Jesus Christ always with us
for indeed as the first reading
perfectly said it today, "Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).

Keep us aware with your
presence in our lives, Jesus,
whether we are in good times
or bad; "let our brotherly love
continue, without neglecting 
hospitality, for through some
have unknowingly entertained
angels" (Heb. 13:1-2).

Set us free from the prisons
we ourselves have made and
locked us in - the prisons of
ego and pride when we delight
in the thought of holding others
imprisoned to insist on our own
thoughts and whims like Herod
in the gospel and the Romans in
the story of St. Blaise whose 
memorial we celebrate today.

Many times, O Lord, what really
happens is that the more we 
keep others in prison with our 
pride and insistence of self,
dominations and manipulations,
of vengeance and revenge as we
believe we punish them with our
being unforgiving and unmerciful,
the more we imprison ourselves,
the more we are shutout from the 
world, the more we are alone 
in the darkness of evil.

You have come, Jesus,
to show us the beauty of life
by living in your light and truth,
love and mercy; set us free from
the sins and pride that obstruct us,
that hold us from being truly free
and faithful to you through others.
Amen.

St. Blaise,
pray for us and heal us
of our ailments in the 
throat so that our hearts
and minds may always be
bridged in Christ.  Amen.