From our “ark” of life into God’s “house of mercy”

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I, 19 February 2025
Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22     <*0000>< + ><0000*>     Mark 8:22-26

I really wonder,
dear God, 
how it felt to be inside
Noah's Ark for 40 days?
The feeling of restlessness,
of anxiety and uncertainty
of the future,
so unsure of what was to come
while at the same time
filled with hope
praying for the best.

How was the boat too?
How did it look like?
What was the smell inside,
the feeling inside that big ark,
the sounds from all the animals
and everything within and
outside?

We have been there many times,
Father, in that big ark called life;
we have passed through many floods,
have waited many times for the waters
to recede,
for the sun to shine,
for life to return to normal.

Through it all,
you never left us, Lord;
send us Noah 
who would stand with
us inside the ark for
40 days and 40 nights,
stay afloat,
stay alive
wherever direction you bring us.

Help us, dear Father
to be patient even if we can't
see right away the distant shore
like that blind man healed
by Jesus at Bethsaida;
lead us, Father
in this ark of life
away from the idolatry of
modern world,
away from the trappings
of easy and comfortable life,
away from sin and evil
to be closer to your mercy,
to your "beth hesda" -
to your house of mercy.
Amen.