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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Wednesday in the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 09 October 2024 Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14 ><]]]]'> + <'[[[[>< Luke 11:1-4
And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong… (Galatians 2:11).
For so long, I have always wondered how You look like, Lord Jesus, of what or how your face looks like really; your face deeply in pain on the Cross has always been the face I have known when thinking of You; how I wished I could see your face moved with pity with that widow of Nain or how your face looked full of love to the rich young man whose face fell after You asked him to sell his belongings, share them to the poor and follow you. Oh, how I long to see your face, Lord!
St. Paul's account of "opposing Cephas to his face" invites me today to see face in a more deeper sense than something physical; as I immersed into the scene, I could sense and picture the courage and sincerity on St. Paul's face in telling St. Peter into his face his double standards in dealing with early Christians, that is, of having two faces: one with Jewish converts and another with Gentile converts!
How sad, dear Jesus, that until now, we your disciples are like St. Peter before: many of us are not only double-faced but even multiple-faced with one another, never our true selves at all! Worst, many of us can't even show our true face as we put on masks that literally in Greek are called hypokritein --- hypocrites!
Teach us, Lord Jesus, how to pray, that is, to be single-faced in our prayers: to face up before our Father as His children forgiving each other's debts, living as brothers and sisters; teach us, Lord Jesus, to face up our prayers, of living out what we pray not with many faces nor with masks on our face; teach us, Lord Jesus, to face You more often in prayers to transform our face into your face that is truly an image and likeness of God, radiating with your loving presence. Amen.
