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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Friday, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin, 11 August 2023 Deuteronomy 4:32-40 ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> Matthew 16:24-28
"Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?" (Deuteronomy 4:33-34)
I heard your questions, God our Father, like a whisper so near yet so loud and clear from deep within; and you know my answer, so well, Lord and yet despite my deep yes, here I am still wandering in the desert, looking somewhere else, running away from you, doubting you when deep within me, I know, I am so sure, I have experienced "there is no other" God but YOU.
Of course my life is not marked with such dramatic events as you did to your people in the desert but still, I could feel them, I have felt them and merely reading the questions by Moses put me into silence for deep inside me, you have never stopped in creating wonders in my life that make me realize what a gift and a privilege to be alive!
And indeed, as your Son Jesus Christ had taught us, to have you is the only valuable, the only worthy response of gratitude to you, O God; like St. Clare, let me come after Jesus by denying myself, taking my cross and following him in love and mercy, kindness and fidelity, service and intimacy. Amen.