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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Tuesday in the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time, Year II, 06 September 2022 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> + ><]]]]'> Luke 6:12-19
Dearest Lord Jesus, you have always told us in many occasions in your teachings that we try to settle our cases with one another instead of waiting for the courts to decide on them that we might end up in jail (Mt. 5:25); Paul reiterates this wise teaching to the Corinthians and to us today. Open our minds and our hearts, Lord, to the many implications of our search for justice in our court and judicial system that often leave us with too much bitterness and hurts not only when justice is not rightly served but the painful process it entails, draining us of energies as well as of goodwill for one another.
In this age of social media when even legal tussles in the courtrooms are televised for all to see and make fun of, the more it becomes clear why we must avoid it at as much as possible because Paul was absolutely right that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we must not resort to the courts of law at all!
I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers? But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers? Now indeed then it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
1 Corinthians 6:5-7, 8
Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to live harmoniously with each other despite our many differences; teach us to always find our similarities as beloved and forgiven children of the Father; teach us to always be one in the Father like you; may we find the great honor and value of being called by you to be your apostle, to be specially close to you and to each other; most of all, let us reach out to you like the sick who find hope and healing only in you in their afflictions and troubles, not in man-made remedies that often hurt us in the process.
Dear Jesus, we pray in the most special way today for those awaiting court decisions in their cases, especially those who have been waiting for so long, for the disadvantaged like the poor and innocent. Amen.