Do you love me?

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The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday in the Seventh Week of Easter before the Pentecost, 17 May 2024
Acts 25:13-21     ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'>     John 21:15-19

Today, O Lord Jesus,
You asked me the loveliest
yet most dreaded question
of all: "Do you love me?"

And You know very well
my answer, 
"Yes, Lord! I love You!" 
even if most often my yes
to You does not flow to my
works and actions:
You know so well, 
dear Jesus,
how my yes to You remains
only in my lips
and in my heart
because more often I turn away
from Your love to commit sins;
yet, despite these,
You still love me very much,
Jesus.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Please help me to pray always
to You, to center my life in You,
to be close and intimate with You,
to be one in You
because love first of all
means being one with 
the beloved,
making time, not finding time.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Help me to appreciate
myself more, to find You
in myself despite my sinfulness
and weaknesses like Peter
whom You have called in
his original name, Simon
because loving You and 
others begins in loving
myself, being grateful
to You that I am alive
and most of all, loved.

Yes, I love You, Jesus!
Let me love You 
with all my heart,
with all my soul,
with all my very self;
let me love You first
so that I may truly love
everyone, especially
the poor and the needy
You have entrusted to me;
let me love You first, Jesus,
so that I may love deeply
the Church;
O my Jesus,
let me love You first
so I can truly love
because without You as basis
and foundation of my love,
that love could be self-serving,
momentary and merely an altruism
without meaning 
and depth that truly liberates
the beloved.
Amen.