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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Monday in the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year I, 30 January 2023 Hebrews 11:32-40 ><0000'> + ><0000'> + ><0000'> Mark 5:1-20
Thank you dear Jesus for this Monday; another "crossing over" from Sunday rest yesterday to working days beginning today.
Today's gospel speaks so beautifully of life's many crossovers with you leading us, joining us, coming to us to heal us, to cleanse us, to forgive us:
Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
Mark 5:1-3
Many times, O Lord, we have been bound by chains of sins and shackles of vices we have found comfort with; like that man, some of us have been living in tombs among the dead and zombies; but worst, dear Jesus, were the people who drove you away after you have cleansed that man of his evil spirits, giving more importance to the herd of swine that perished than to the one possessed person freed from evil.
Lord Jesus, life is a series of crossing overs from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom, from slavery to freedom, from sin to grace; let us not be afraid to cross over to the other side to follow you, to cross with you in faith; let us lead others into crossing over through the nights of life into the day filled with your grace and challenges; most of all, let us cross over life with firm faith in you, persevering even if we do not receive "what had been promised" because "God had foreseen something better for us" (Heb.11:39-40). Amen.
