The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Leo the Great, Pope & Doctor of the Church, 10 November 2023 Romans 15:14-21 ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> + ><]]]]’> Luke 16:1-8
I just realized today, God our Father, how the word “miss” has a variety of meanings: as something we failed or something or someone we remember or, someone or something we forget and neglected.
How sad that very often, the people we miss - those we forget, even taken for granted because they are common, are those nearest to us like family and friends, those in our inner circles.
Thus I aspire to proclaim the Gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on another’s foundation, but as it is written: Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.
Romans 15:20-21
Is it not so funny that the ones we meet inside the church every day and every Sunday are also the very ones who are like us - evangelized or simply know Jesus and his teachings; but, where are the rest? the unchurched? the ones we say who must hear the good news?
Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to be wise like that steward in your parable today: to save face and himself, he went to see his master’s debtors he himself must have missed, disregarded and never given any importance at all because they were common, below him in stature; let us realize like that shrewd steward, like St. Paul to look for those we miss most because of proximity and ordinariness; they could be our family members who have stopped praying or celebrating Mass or those living closest to our church or chapel and have lost interest in the sacraments and liturgy or former colleagues in the ministry who have lapsed in their practice of faith.
Let us go out today to find them and make them feel and experience they are loved, they are missed most in Christ Jesus. Amen.
