God our foundation

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of Sts. Pedro Bautista, Paul Miki & Companion Martyrs, 06 February 2024
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30  <*[[[[>< + ><]]]]'>  Mark 7:1-13

Dear God our Father,
thank you for being for us,
thank you for being with us, 
thank you for being in us;
you are our foundation,
our root, and our very life.
Everyday in nature you show
us your beauty and majesty,
but most of all, in all history,
you have allowed us to express
your might and power with
our magnificent buildings
of worship everywhere
that like King Solomon,
we pray and wonder:

“Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built! Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your servant, O Lord, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant, utter before you this day.”

1 Kings 8:27-28

Thank you dear God
for the gift of missionaries
who have come to build churches
and schools and hospitals
and towns that until now testify
to your being with us;
many of them have literally
given their lives for the gospel
of Jesus Christ your Son
like San Pedro Bautista
who worked only for nine years
in the Philippines but had transformed
lives from Bulacan to Camarines Sur;
he later joined the first Japanese martyr
and Jesuit priest St. Paul Miki and
other companions in Nagasaki
when rulers there became suspicious
of their missionary works
that have won so many converts.
May we remain faithful to you,
O God, as our sole foundation
in life even in death.

Forgive us, Father,
when many times we confine you
 in our churches,
in our beliefs and traditions
becoming more focused with
material foundations
than your divine foundation
like the Pharisees and scribes
in the gospel today;
let us continue to pursue learning
in the light of Christ's teaching,
sometimes relearning and
unlearning things we have been
used to by always going back to
you O God as our sole foundation
in this life.
Amen.