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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday, Feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz & Companion Martyrs, 28 September 2022 Job 9:1-12, 14-16 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> Luke 9:57-62
the Sierra Madre, Quezon Province, July 2022.
Life is truly a mystery, O God our loving Father! Filled with so many twists and turns, bends and corners that lead and open us to new vistas, new situations, new sceneries that make us closer to finding you and experiencing you.
Job answered his friend and said: God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him.
Job 9:1, 4, 9-11
Like Job and St. Lorenzo Ruiz, many times our hearts cry out to you unable to understand at how and why so many bad things are happening to us, sometimes we feel overburdened almost giving up but still in the end, we persevere because we believe in you, we cannot go without you for we would rather go in darkness assured of your presence than in light without you on our side.
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Luke 9:57-58
Grant us, dear Jesus, the grace of true freedom to choose you always freely, to be free from any attachments with the world and worldly except you whom we follow wholeheartedly like St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companion martyrs..
And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:59-60
Grant us too, dear Jesus, the grace to live in the present, to be always in every here and now, learning from the past, forging ahead onto the future to preach the good news of salvation urgently, joyfully!
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61-62
Lastly like St. Lorenzo, teach us dear Jesus to be firm in our decision in following you, to stop entertaining thoughts of turning back from your mission, thoughts of seeking comforts and other personal benefits except of doing and fulfilling your most Holy Will unto death. Amen.
