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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Thursday, Feast of St. John Marie Vianney, Priest, 04 August 2022 Jeremiah 31:1-7 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 16:13-23
Glory and praise to you, dear Jesus for the gift of priesthood! Thank you for the grace of St. John Marie Vianney our patron who taught us that "The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus". That is why on this day of the priests, we pray like the psalmist:
A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you. For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it. My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. (Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19)
Indeed, dear Jesus, it is the heart of us your priests that must be cleansed and purified for it is where your new covenant is written as Jeremiah prophesied in the first reading today: "I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). In your many teachings, Jesus, especially in the Beatitudes, you have always declared the heart as the wholeness of every person that must be purified to be open and free to see God because our intellect is never enough; like Peter when he confessed "you are the Christ" at Caesarea Philippi, let our hearts be silent to listen to the voice of the Father revealing you in our hearts (Matthew 16:16-17). Most of all, purify and cleanse the hearts of us your priests, dear Jesus so that we may have a loving heart that is obedient to you in serving your people; a heart that is one with you, O Lord, on the Cross for it is only in humbling ourselves, in going down like you can we truly be loving to have a heart like your Most Sacred Heart. Amen. St. John Marie Vianney, Pray for us priests!
