Praying for integrity

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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest & Doctor of Church, 13 June 2023
2 Corinthians 1:18-22   <*((((>< + ><))))*>   Matthew 5:13-16
Photo by author, Mount Sinai, Egypt, May 2019.
Today, O Lord Jesus,
I pray for the gift of integrity,
of wholeness in you,
holiness not of being sinless
but filled with you like
St. Paul and St. Anthony of Padua
whose memorial we celebrate today.

Brothers and sisters: As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, Silvanus and Timothy and me, was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes” has been in him. For however many are the promises of God, their yes is in him. Therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20

In our world that thirsts for integrity
when many people find ways to 
compromise their faith and beliefs
with the gall of defending themselves
by refusing to call their dissimulation a lie,
teach us, dear Jesus to be like St. Paul
in taking your example at the Cross as 
basis of our integrity in you 
by dying too for what is
true and good and just.
Give us the courage 
to mean what we say 
by proving it with our actions.
Like St. Anthony of Padua who said,
"Actions speak louder than words;
let your words teach
and your actions speak."

O dear Jesus,
let us realize it is not enough
to be blessed and imbued with your
beatitudes; let our blessedness 
be visible like light
and be experienced by others
like salt as our lives of integrity
give flavor to the bland taste
of lies and dishonesty
of the world.
Amen.