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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs, 02 June 2023 Sirach 44:1.9-13 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Mark 11:11-26
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father, for this first Friday of June; your words are very interesting with Ben Sirach calling us to recall and remember the faithful men and women who have lived' and gone ahead of us while Mark combined two stories in our gospel scene today.
Now I will praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time. But of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased. And they are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them. Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten.
Sirach 44:1, 9-10
So true indeed are his words until now! There are many great people we remember their names for their great faith and but there are still far more than them whom we know remain unnamed having served God so well among his people; may we try to remember today our simple folks whose faith have inspired us to be more faithful and charitable like Ben-sirach.
On the other hand, Mark combines two stories in the life of our Lord Jesus to instill in us the importance of faith not just as a belief nor a system of theology we must learn but a relationship we must keep with God through our brothers and sisters.
Forgive us, Jesus, for those times our faith bore no fruit and withered so dried like the fruitless fig tree; forgive us, Jesus, when we make religion an economic enterprise like what happened to the temple of Jerusalem during your time; cleanse us of our selfish motives that faith has become more of a means for social mobility than for spiritual growth through meaningful relationships with God and with others.
Grant us, Jesus, the courage and fidelity of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter to be firm in our faith in you. Amen.
