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The Lord Is My Chef Christmas Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Christmas Weekday, Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus, 03 January 2022 1 John 2:29-3:6 ><000'> + ><000'> + ><000'> John 1:29-34
Keep me true to you, God our loving Father, and most of all true to myself as your beloved child so I would always recognize Jesus Christ in our midst like John the Baptist.
See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
1 John 3:1
How did John recognize Jesus coming to him for baptism in today's gospel?
I am sure that it was because of this truth, of being your child, loving Father; indeed, beautiful souls recognize beautiful souls; John was so genuine and Jesus was the purest because he is truth himself that John could boldly claim Jesus is the lamb of God, the one he had said as coming though he did not know him (cf. Jn.1:29-31). What a beautiful scene of two genuine souls recognizing each other! If we could just replicate it daily in our lives too, beginning in our home!
In our modern time that is so very much like the time of Jesus when people have turned away from you, God including those who claim to be Christians yet promoting abortion and same sex union as well as priests and bishops supposed to be the light of reason, decency, and morality but are not, we are so blessed with your humble servant, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. His was a genuine soul, a most genteel person so maligned by many especially the Western press and some clergymen for his fidelity to the Lord's teachings, truly a John the Baptist who pointed us all to go back to Jesus Christ especially in the light of the sex scams that have rocked the Church; his writings are simply the best, in itself like the gospel exposing your truth in words so understandable; most of all, he lived in all simplicity and humility that he was able to see eternity.
Most dearest Jesus, grant me the grace you gave Pope Benedict XVI: may I also say before my death in all sincerity and truth, "Lord, I love you". Let these words be impressed on my soul and be my guide in life. Amen.
