Praying not to shrink

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Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga & Companions, 03 June 2025
Acts 20:17-27     <*((((><  +  ><))))*>     John 17:1-11

Dear Jesus,
help us your disciples
in this modern age to
be like St. Paul who never 
"shrinked" in boldly standing
for your gospel values;
how lovely in today's first
reading that St. Paul twice 
mentioned he never "shrink"
from telling and proclaiming
God's plan for everyone.

“and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes… for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God” (Acts 20:20, 27).

How lovely 
that on this day too
we celebrate the memorial of
Uganda's first martyrs led by
St. Charles Lwanga and companions
never shrink before their king
to engage in homosexual and other
pervert sexual acts; they stood firm in
your teachings of the sanctity of the 
human body as temple of your spirit.

How true are your words,
Lord Jesus at the end of your great
discourse and prayer for your 
disciples at the Last Supper
that indeed, "Father, the hour has come"
(John 17:1): the hour has come when 
people are so proud with their wrong
sense of "pride" in rejecting your gift
of sexuality and human body;
how sad that these days, our country
despite being the only Christian nation 
in this part of Asia is now the "trans" capital
in the region; for the longest time too,
our country has been one of the top
users of online pornography; and worst
of all, we have the most irreconcilable
situation of being a nation deeply 
religious yet with a government so corrupt
that we have always lagged in development
as a country where much of its human
resources have to work abroad to earn
decently.

The hour has come, Jesus,
that we too make a stand for
what is true and just,
that we do not shrink in
doing and teaching your
gospel values; grant us the 
courage as well as clarity of mind
and magnanimity of spirit and heart
in not shrinking for you in the face
of so-called modernity and wokism.
Amen.

St. Charles Lwanga and companion
martyrs of Uganda,
Pray for us!