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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2023 Haggai 1:1-8 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 9:7-9
Teach me, O God our Father, to be sincere and true, humble and docile to heed your call today to "consider my ways" in relating with you and others:
Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown so much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not satisfied; you have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; and he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord.
Haggai 1:5-8
I confess, Lord, so many times in life I have been thinking more of myself and less of you, less of others, and yet, the more I get everything and all the attention, the more I feel lost and empty because I do not have you.
How true are your words to Haggai, Father: it is not really working on so much but doing everything for you and in you; it is not simply eating but also feeding my soul that is truly filling; more than drinking is the reason for celebrating; better than clothes is the warmth of another person; and better than all the fruits of our labor are the treasures of kindness we save in heaven that is never lost.
Let us consider our ways in the light of Jesus Christ; like Herod, many times we just keep on trying to see him without any firm resolve to follow him like St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companion martyrs we celebrate today. You are so kind, O God; all you ask us is to consider our ways to become witnesses of your love without any need to shed our blood like St. Lorenzo and company; make us see, dear Father, the life and joys you offer us freely, compared to the ways of the world that is misleading and utterly empty, lacking in meaning. Amen.
