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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday, Memorial of the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, 07 October 2024
Acts 1:12-14 <*{{{{>< + ><}}}}*> Luke 1:26-38
God our loving Father, You are the God of History: nothing happens without your knowing as You ensure that despite setbacks, history is always directed to your Divine Plan. As we celebrate today the Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, we remember too how You answered our prayers in that decisive victory of the Spanish Armada against the more and better-equipped navy of the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto Bay in 1571 that finally stopped the Moslems from occupying Europe.
We pray, O God, that in a similar way, teach us to "lose" in order to "win": like the Blessed Mother Mary, grant us the grace to lose ourself to You in Jesus Christ; how lovely to think Mary was a "loser" of her self to You when she told the Archangel Gabriel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38); it was in losing herself to You, dear God, that Mary became your instrument for our victory of salvation through her Son Jesus Christ.
Teach us, O Lord, to be like Mary in submitting our total selves to the Father's will and plans, ready to endure sufferings and trials in life that many times we feel we are at the losing end; when we are patient and understanding, when we are forgiving of others sins, when we bear all pains because we love, that is when we win as we lose ourselves and begins to be filled with Jesus like Mary in the gospel.
Remind us always, God our loving Father, that when we feel losing many battles in life like when we stand for what is true and good, that is actually when we win the war against evil and sin, the greatest victory Christ had gifted us, first with His Mother Mary - salvation! Blessed Mother of the Rosary, continue praying for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
