Tuesday, July 31 – Do You Believe This?

31 Jul – Memorial for St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest, religious founder

St. Ignatius (1491-1556) was of Spanish nobility. The youngest of 12 children, he served as a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella. He received a military education and became a soldier, entering the army in 1517, and serving in several campaigns. He was wounded in the leg by a cannonball at the siege of Pampeluna in 1521, an injury that left him partially crippled for life.

During his recuperation, the only books he had access to were “The Golden Legend”, a collection of the lives of the saints, and the “Life of Christ” by Ludolph the Carthusian. These books, and the time spent in contemplation, changed him.

On his recovery he took a vow of chastity, hung his sword before the altar of the Virgin of Montserrat, and donned a pilgrim’s robes. He lived in a cave from 1522-1523, contemplating the way to live a Christian life. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land in 1523, where he worked to convert Muslims. In 1528, he began studying theology in Barcelona, Alcala, and Paris, receiving his degree in 1534.

His meditations, prayers, visions, and insights led to forming the “Constitution of the Society of Jesus” on Aug 15, 1534. It received papal approval in 1541.

He was a friend of James Lainez, Alonso Salmeron, Nicholas Bobadilla, Simon Rodriguez, Blessed Peter Faber, and St. Francis Xavier, the group that formed the core of the new Society. He never used the term “Jesuit”, which was coined as an insult by his opponents; the Society today uses the term with pride. He travelled Europe and the Holy Lands, then settled in Rome to direct the Jesuits. His health suffered in later years, and he was nearly blind by death.

The Jesuits today have over 500 universities and colleges, 30,000 members, and teach over 200,000 students each year.

- Patron Saint Index
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Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28

Moses used to take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who had to consult the Lord would go out to the Tent of Meeting, outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise. Every man would stand at the door of his tent and watch Moses until he reached the Tent; the pillar of cloud would come down and station itself at the entrance to the Tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. When they saw the pillar of cloud stationed at the entrance to the Tent, all the people would rise and bow low, each at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would turn back to the camp, but the young man who was his servant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the Tent.

Moses stood with the Lord on the mountain. He called on the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands he maintains his kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin; yet he lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father’s fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.” And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. “If I have indeed won your favour, Lord,” he said, “let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage.”

He stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing. He inscribed on the tablets the words of the Covenant – the Ten Words.
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Matthew 13:36-43

Leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, “Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.” He said in reply, “The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!”
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In the days of Moses, the Israelites could see God’s presence very clearly in their lives. They saw God’s presence in the pillar of cloud that descended on the Tent of Meeting when Moses was inside. I don’t know how frequently they saw this, but it appeared at least once in their lifetimes.

In the gospels, the Jews could also see God’s presence in their lives. For those with faith, God’s presence was very clear, on hindsight. But for those without faith, they failed to realise that Jesus was actually the full revelation of God made present in the flesh in their lives.

Some of us today say, “If I can see God with my own eyes, and touch God with my own fingers, I will believe.” What we often fail to realise is that, even today, we CAN see God with our own eyes, and touch God with our own fingers. We do this whenever we see the Blessed Sacrament with our eyes, whenever we receive the Eucharist in our hands.

There is a great temptation to respond, “Oh, that’s different. The Blessed Sacrament is not… God.” Even if we don’t say it out, we might be thinking this in our hearts, and such a thought reveals our true beliefs about the Blessed Sacrament.

Whenever we enter a church, we genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament. This is the same act of reverence shown to God as that of the Israelites, who bowed low whenever the saw the pillar of cloud descend on the Tent of Meeting. Some of us, however, don’t know what we are genuflecting towards, or why we genuflect. We do not genuflect to anything else – not the altar, not the lectern, not any statue or icon of any saint. We only genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament because we reserve this act of reverence and the highest respect to the God who is present in our lives in a very real way.

Yesterday, during Mass, after receiving Holy Communion and returning to my seat, this thought came to mind: “I have just touched God himself! How wonderful it is to be able to touch God!” I had attended the Mass with a Methodist who thought that Holy Communion was only symbolic. It’s not, at least not in the Church. It’s the real flesh and blood of God!

Do you believe this?
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Prayer:
We pray for all Christians to see God in the Eucharist, and truly believe with all our hearts, that this is indeed the body and blood of God. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Making his body and blood so easily available to us.

Upcoming Readings:
Wed, 01 Aug – Exodus 34:29-35; Matthew 13:44-46; Memorial for St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, doctor of the Church
Thu, 02 Aug – Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38; Matthew 13:47-53; Memorial for St. Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop; Memorial for St. Peter Julian Eymard, priest
Fri, 03 Aug – Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Matthew 13:54-58
Sat, 04 Aug – Leviticus 25:1, 8-17; Matthew 14:1-12; Memorial for St. John Mary Vianney, priest
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Monday, July 30 – Frolicking With Evil

30 Jul – Memorial for St. Peter Chrysologus, bishop, doctor

St. Peter (406-450) was an adult convert, a deacon, then a priest, and then Bishop of Ravenna, Italy in 433. He fought paganism and the Monophysite heresy, enforced reforms, and built several churches and ornate altars in his see. He was a preacher with such language skills, he was given the name “Chrysologus”, referring to his “golden word”. 176 of his sermons have survived; it is the strength of these beautiful explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the Baptist in the great plan of salvation, etc, that led to his being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII.

- Patron Saint Index
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Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34

Moses made his way back down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, tablets inscribed on both sides, inscribed on the front and on the back. These tablets were the work of God, and the writing on them was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.

Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. “There is sound of battle in the camp,” he told Moses. Moses answered him:

“No song of victory is this sound,
no wailing for defeat this sound;
it is the sound of chanting that I hear.”

As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the groups dancing, Moses’ anger blazed. He threw down the tablets he was holding and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He seized the calf they had made and burned it, grinding it into powder which he scattered on the water; and he made the sons of Israel drink it. To Aaron Moses said, “What has this people done to you, for you to bring such a great sin on them?” “Let not my lord’s anger blaze like this,” Aaron answered. “You know yourself how prone this people is to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us a god to go at our head; this Moses, the man who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Who has gold?’ and they took it off and brought it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.”

On the following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. But now I shall go up to the Lord: perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” And Moses returned to the Lord. “I am grieved,” he cried, “this people has committed a grave sin making themselves a god of gold. And yet, if it pleased you to forgive this sin of theirs….! But if not, then blot me out from the book that you have written.” The Lord answered Moses, “It is the man who has sinned against me that I shall blot out from my book. Go now, lead the people to the place of which I told you. My angel shall go before you but, on the day of my visitation, I shall punish them for their sin.”
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Matthew 13:31-35

Jesus put a parable before the crowds, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.”

In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:

I will speak to you in parables
and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
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In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks to the crowd in parables, or stories. Stories are wonderful. They have the ability to transport us to another world. When we learn through stories, we remember lessons taught better, because we remember the stories better than if we were just taught the lessons. These lessons that we remember from the stories have a profound impact on our lives. We might not know it, but when we see or hear something that reminds us of one of these stories, our lives are changed slightly towards heaven.

However, we know that evil is a perversion of good, and the Evil One uses sin in a similar, but perverted way. Sin also has the power to corrupt us from within, in ways that we might not know. When we sin, we are leaving behind a mark on ourselves, a wound, so to speak. And this wound will cause us problems down the road.

It’s like smoking. When we smoke, we are causing tar to build up in our lungs. Even if we stop smoking, it takes a long time for the tar to be cleanse from our lungs, if ever. Sin is like that. Just because we give up a certain sinful habit, doesn’t mean its effects will leave us immediately. If anything, we will be even more tempted when we have just given up, and we can never fully say that we are free from the effects of sin. Temptation to go back to the sin will always be there.

The sin that the Israelites committed in the first reading was to turn away from God and to create their own false god. Even though they repented, this tendency to sin continued to remain in their lives, as we know from reading the Bible.

Every bit of sin in our lives is a pollutant, and an obstacle towards heaven. As St. Peter Chrysologus says, “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.” It is important to remember therefore, that some of our tendencies to sin today could possibly come from a habit that we thought we left behind for good. It is still festering within us. But fret not… too much anyway, because we can still do as Moses did – we can go up to the Lord and make atonement for our sin. Only we are accountable for our own sin, and only we can accept God’s grace so that we can turn away from sin.
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Prayer:
We pray today for all who have returned to our old sinful habits. Lord, grant us the humility to recognise our failures to live a holy and sinless life, the courage to make amends for our sins, and the faith to try again. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: His forgiveness and mercy.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 31 Jul – Exodus 33:7-11, 34:5b-9, 28; Matthew 13:36-43; Memorial for St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest, religious founder
Wed, 01 Aug – Exodus 34:29-35; Matthew 13:44-46; Memorial for St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, doctor of the Church
Thu, 02 Aug – Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38; Matthew 13:47-53; Memorial for St. Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop; Memorial for St. Peter Julian Eymard, priest
Fri, 03 Aug – Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Matthew 13:54-58
Sat, 04 Aug – Leviticus 25:1, 8-17; Matthew 14:1-12; Memorial for St. John Mary Vianney, priest
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Sunday, July 29 – Redemption – Free Gift!

29 Jul – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our Father In Heaven

Christ has given us in very truth the power to become the children of God. Compare the timidity and self-abnegation of Abraham’s prayer with the confidence with which Christ teaches us to pray to our Father in heaven.

- the Sunday Missal
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Refusing Millions!

A very rich man died. When his lawyers opened his will they found he had left his millions to a complete stranger. All the stranger had to do to receive it was to ask for it. The lawyers called this stranger into their office and told him the good news.

Then came a surprise. The man told the lawyers that he could accept these millions of dollars only under one condition. He said, “I will accept these millions of dollars only if I can earn, deserve, or work for them.”

The lawyers explained to the man that there was no need to earn or work for the money. They explained that the money belonged to him already; that these millions were his simply for the asking. “In fact,” they pointed out, “you could never begin to earn these millions of dollars – even if you worked for the rest of your life.”

Still the man insisted that unless he could earn or deserve this money, he would not accept it. So he didn’t get what had been offered to him in the will.

- Many people are like the man in the story. By dying for us Jesus won much more than a fortune for each of us. He won a completely new life of joy and peace with God. He rose from the dead on Easter morning to prove to us that this treasure is really ours.

- But many people won’t ask for this gift that simply. They think they have to earn it first by living a holy life. They refuse to believe it when God says: “By grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9)

- A free gift of God, that’s what salvation is. You don’t earn a gift. You receive it. Of course, once we have this wonderful gift of God, we say thanks by living a happy life for God and with God.

- adapted from “Adventures with God” by Harry N. Huxhold
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Genesis 18:20-32

The Lord said, “How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.”

The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, “Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth no administer justice?” The Lord replied, “If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.”

Abraham replied, “I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?” “No,” he replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.” Again Abraham said to him, “Perhaps there will only be forty there.” “I will not do it,” he replied, “for the sake of the forty.”

Abraham said, “I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there.” “I will not do it,” he replied. “if I find thirty there.” He said, “I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there.” “I will not destroy it,” he replied, “for the sake of the twenty.” He said, “I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten.” “I will not destroy it,” he replied, “for the sake of the ten.”
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Colossians 2:12-14

You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead, ebcause you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins.

He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.
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Luke 11:1-13

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of the disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “Say this when you pray:

‘Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.’”

He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him’; and the man answers from inside the house, ‘Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you’, I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.

“So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, known how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
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Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, has redeemed us from sin. This word “redemption”, what does it mean?

Say you went to the supermarket and you purchased something. The cashier gives you some coupons, and asks you to go to a special counter to redeem the coupons for a prize. If you don’t go, all you have are some worthless coupons. But if you go to the special counter, you need to hand over those coupons. The clerk at the counter will probably do something like tear the coupons, or make a mark on it to indicate that the coupons have been redeemed, and then pass you the prize.

That’s what redemption is. When Christ redeemed us, what he has done is to ask us to hand over our lives to him. What he does is to take our lives, make a mark on it, and then hand over to us a new life.

However, some of us don’t want to hand over our lives to Christ. We don’t want redemption. We only want our old lives. When Christ tells us to repent, he is telling us to turn away from our old ways and go down a new way, a way that will truly bring us life, happiness, and peace with God. The only condition for accepting Christ’s redemption is to turn away from our old lives. This is so that we can fully enjoy a new life. How can we fully enjoy a new life if we are always going back to our old ways?

Granted that our new lives are not always easy, and not always pleasurable. For example, a person with a problem like heart disease and high cholesterol. If he doesn’t change his eating habits and diet, he will end up with something very serious, that will probably end up in death. His old eating habits and diet are literally driving him to his grave. His doctor shows him how to eat right. It is not easy, because it means giving up food that he loves to eat, despite how bad it is for him. But the new way brings life, it brings health.

How can the man fully enjoy this new life, if he keeps thinking about the food he used to eat, and going back to eat all that unhealthy food? He cannot. He will forever be comparing his old eating habits with his new, and definitely, in the short-term, prefer his old eating habits. Look far ahead, Christ tells us, see the long-term goal that I have planned for you. See the life, the health, the joy and the happiness that I have planned for you. They are all yours for the asking.

Christ has not only given us redemption and the new way of living, but has also provided all the strength, courage and perseverance for us to accomplish this. Ask my Father for the grace that you need, he tells us. Ask him for anything that you need to live this new life, and he will give it to you, Christ tells us.

Ask for Christ’s redemption today. Hand over your old life to him and receive a new life in exchange. And don’t keep looking back at your past. Look to the future, the long-term goal that God has in store for each of us.
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Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we ask for the grace to look forward at the long-term goals that you have in store for us, and we ask for the grace to keep on living this new and wonderful life that you have given us in exchange for our old life. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Redemption, the free gift of a new life.

Upcoming Readings:
Mon, 30 Jul – Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34; Matthew 13:31-35; Memorial for St. Peter Chysologus, bishop, doctor
Tue, 31 Jul – Exodus 33:7-11, 34:5b-9, 28; Matthew 13:36-43; Memorial for St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest, religious founder
Wed, 01 Aug – Exodus 34:29-35; Matthew 13:44-46; Memorial for St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop, doctor of the Church
Thu, 02 Aug – Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38; Matthew 13:47-53; Memorial for St. Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop; Memorial for St. Peter Julian Eymard, priest
Fri, 03 Aug – Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Matthew 13:54-58
Sat, 04 Aug – Leviticus 25:1, 8-17; Matthew 14:1-12; Memorial for St. John Mary Vianney, priest

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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Saturday, July 27 – Our Daily Offering

28 Jul

Growing naturally

A boy was playing in his back garden one day, when he found a caterpillar on a bush. He had learned in school that the caterpillar becomes a butterfly, once it breaks out of the cocoon. He was a kind and helpful boy, so he thought that his good deed for the day would be to help the caterpillar on its journey. So he gently broke the shell of the cocoon and released the caterpillar. And that, simply, was the end of the caterpillar, and of any hope it had of becoming a butterfly.

- The very struggle to break free from the cocoon is nature’s way of strengthening the caterpillar. So, when the time is right, in nature’s own way the new butterfly can fly away to a whole new life.

- The help that some people give, with all the good intentions in the world, is anything but helpful. It is in working through a process that any worthwhile growth takes place. There is a great danger in being a “fixer”, and looking for instant solutions.

- taken from “150 More Stories for Preachers and Teachers” by Jack McArdle
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Exodus 24:3-8

Moses went and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, ‘We will observe all the commands that the Lord has decreed’. Moses put all the commands of the Lord into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to the Lord as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, ‘We will observe all that the Lord has decreed; we will obey.’ Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. This’ he said ‘is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you, containing all these rules.’
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Matthew 13:24-30

Jesus put another parable before them, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’
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Why did the owner not allow his servants to pull out the darnel upon seeing it? Phrased in another manner, why does God permit us to go through the negative parts of our lives such as nasty superiors, lousy friends and even cruel circumstances? Perhaps it is because these issues serve to purify us and make us stronger in how we handle life in general.

I believe that we must offer up our sufferings to the Lord, regardless of how severe or trivial these matters are. Our Lord will be using these issues to teach us that he went through all the sufferings that we had and more. Our role is to accept these sufferings with faith and hope that we will grow stronger in our faith.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nick Chia)
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Prayer:
Lord, grant us the strength to bear our sufferings and enable us always to remember that you will always be there for us.

Give thanks for: the love of God that merited us such a Saviour.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Friday, July 27 – Human Wisdom & Divine Wisdom

27 Jul

The blind leading the blind

Before modern radio and TV became so sophisticated, a telephone operator used to get a call every afternoon asking for the correct time. She was always able to give this information with great confidence. The reason for this was that she always checked her watch, and adjusted it when needed, when the whistle blew for quitting time in the local factory.

One day her watch stopped. The telephone rang, inquiring for the correct time. She explained her predicament. Her watch had stopped, and she had no way of ascertaining the correct time until the factory whistle sounded some time later.

The called then explained his predicament. He was calling today, as he had done every other day, from that same local factory, and he had always adjusted the factory clock to agree with whatever time it was in the telephone exchange!

- Using human means to improve or change the human condition, is like mixing water with water – I’ll always end up with water!

- taken from “150 More Stories for Preachers and Teachers” by Jack McArdle
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Exodus 20:1-17

The Lord spoke all these words. He said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you our of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no gods except me.

“You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it.

“Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work on that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.

“Honour your father and mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given you.

“You shall not kill.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man, or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”
____________________

Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart; this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.
_____________________

Which of the Ten Commandments do you break most frequently? I guess mine would have to be the one about keeping the sabbath day holy.

These commandments were given to the Israelites. They weren’t the product of what we call ‘human wisdom’, which is what a friend defines as “the result of gaining experiences from our live in the natural world and evaluating these experiences to find a deeper meaning in the things we do”. This kind of human wisdom is good, but it is not enough. The Ten Commandments are an example of another kind of wisdom, a divine kind of wisdom, which is a revelation from God, usually on what it means to be human.

The Ten Commandments contain incredible insights on how the Israelites were to live as a community dedicated to God, so as to grow and progress and prosper. These Ten Commandments are still applicable to us today, if only we realise it. Because when we look at our society, we can see that some of the opposites of the Ten Commandments are becoming commonplace. Adultery, for example.

God has given us these Ten Commandments and told us to follow them if we want to be a prosperous people dedicated to Him. What is our response?

For some of us, we don’t understand the great divine wisdom contained in these Ten Commandments, and the evil one comes and takes away what was sown in our hearts. For some of us, we see the great wisdom contained in them, but it does not bear fruit in us, and any desire to hold on to them and follow them dies away quickly. For some of us, the Ten Commandments and any fruits they may bear in our lives are crowded out by the worries of the world, and nothing is produced in our lives.

But for some of us, we receive the Ten Commandments and we want it to bear fruit in our lives, so we live them out faithfully. That doesn’t mean that we don’t go through periods of non-understanding. That doesn’t mean that we don’t lose heart when we don’t see the fruits of our efforts. That doesn’t mean that we don’t experience worries in the world.

What it does mean is that we remain faithful to God and trust that he will remain faithful to us and deliver us from evil. And God is always faithful to us, even if sometimes we are not faithful to him.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear Lord, help us to keep the Ten Commandments that you have given us, to live them out faithfully in our lives, so as to be your people, and have you be our God. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Divine wisdom.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Thursday, July 26 – A Tradition of Grace and Love

26 Jul – Memorial for Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Anne was the mother of Our Lady, the grandmother of Jesus Christ, and the wife of St. Joachim. She was probably well-off. Tradition says that Anne was quite elderly when Mary was born, and that she was their only child. The belief that Anne remained a virgin in the conception and birth of Mary was condemned by the Vatican in 1677.

Anne is believed to have given Mary to the service of the Temple when the girl was three years old. Devotion to her has been popular in the East from the very early days of the Church; widespread devotion in the West began in the 16th century, but many shrines have developed since.

St. Joachim was the husband of St. Anne, the elderly father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and grandfather of Jesus Christ. Tradition says that while he was away from home, he and Anne each received a message from an angel that she was pregnant.

Joachim is mentioned in neither historical or canonical writings. The information we have on Joachim derives mainly from the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James.

- Patron Saint Index
___________________

Ecclesiasticus 44:1,10-15

Let us praise illustrious men,
our ancestors in their successive generations.
Here is a list of generous men
whose good works have not been forgotten.
In their descendants there remains
a rich inheritance born of them.
Their descendants stand by the covenants
and, thanks to them, so do their children’s children.
Their offspring will last for ever,
their glory will not fade.
Their bodies have been buried in peace,
and their name lives on for all generations.
The peoples will proclaim their wisdom,
the assembly will celebrate their praises.
____________________

Many schools have traditions with regards to new students. We have heard and seen stories or perhaps experienced some of these ourselves. Rites of initiation in American fraternities and sororities; the annual ragging that freshmen in Singapore had to endure not too long ago; etc. Many of these may be frowned upon because of what they put the initiates through. Many of these also endure because each generation believes the next should go through what they themselves experienced. There are however, those traditions which are good and wholesome, such as writing letters conveying your gratitude and good will to fellow initiates or seniors. Again, these endure because of the wish to pass on the experience to their successors. However, where the former may be motivated by selfish, tit-for-tat mentalities, the latter is driven by more altruistic goals, that is to share what is good and make it last.

The parent-child relationship can be said to the pinnacle of this latter scenario. As Christ said, even an evil person would not give his child a snake for food. Our parents strive to do their best for us. We may not always agree with it. It may not be the very best course of action. Each of them though does what is in their view the best. And we will in turn do what we see is best for our own children. And they to their own. Such is the progression of love that has its origin in the love God showed Adam and Eve.

It is through this progression too that people will look at us. In Singapore, we are familiar with the concept known as filial piety. Praises are given to parents for raising filial children and praises are given to children for showing piety. It is as in our first reading, a rich inheritance. The wonderful thing about this inheritance is that we can share it back with the ones from whom we received it, creating a loop that amplifies and strengthens it. If ever there were a perpetual motion engine, this is it.

Today we celebrate the memorial for Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of our Blessed Mother. Christian tradition holds that they were a holy and devout couple, dedicating their daughter to the service of God and teaching her in the Law. It would be through their efforts that she had the good upbringing which prepared her in wisdom to be the Mother of God. Theirs is an example from which Mary learned from with regards to Jesus her Son, giving Him up for the salvation of mankind.

In the Ten Commandments, the fifth is one of the two which comes with a promise. Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. It falls to each of us to continue in that tradition of grace and love which was passed down to us through our parents from God Himself and in our turn, pass it on to our brothers and sisters; sons and daughters; and most of all, to our fathers and mothers.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
___________________

Prayer:
Lord, we pray for different generations, that they may embrace their differences and learn from one another.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Family

Upcoming Readings:
Fri, 27 Jul – Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Wednesday, July 25 – Superhuman Love

25 Jul – Feast of St. James the Greater, apostle, martyr

St. James the Greater (d. 44) was the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of St. John the Apostle, and may have been Jesus’ cousin. He is called “the Greater” simply because he became an apostle before St. James the Lesser. He was a disciple of St. John the Baptist, and was a fisherman, leaving behind everything when Christ called him to be a fisher of men. He was present during most of the recorded miracles of Christ. He preached in Samaria, Judaea, and Spain, and was the first apostle to be martyred.

The pilgrimage to his relics in Compostela became such a popular devotion that the symbols of pilgrims have become his emblems, and he became patron of pilgrims. His work in Spain, and the housing of his relics there, led to his patronage of the country and all things Spanish; for centuries, the Spanish army rode to battle with the cry, “Santiago!” (“St. James!”)

Like all men of renown, many stories grew up around James. In one, he brought back to life a boy who had been unjustly hanged, and had been dead for five weeks. The boy’s father was notified of the miracle while he sat at supper. The father pronounced the story nonsense, and said his son was no more alive than the roasted fowl on the table; the cooked bird promptly sat up, sprouted feathers, and flew away.

- Patron Saint Index
___________________

2 Corinthians 4:7-15

We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always been seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

But as we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, sot hat the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.
____________________

Matthew 20:20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee came with them to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, “What is it you want?” She said to him, “Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.” “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus answered. “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” They replied, “We can.” “Very well,” he said, “you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.”

When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
____________________

The glory of God is revealed through us. How? When we do things that are simply not humanly possible.

I don’t mean that we lift cars and trains and leap over buildings in a single bound, but rather, that we live a truly Christian life of service to others. When we live lives of service to others, we become more patient, humble, kind, compassionate, etc. In short, we become holier, and living lives of service to others becomes our ticket to heaven… not that it grants us salvation, but it prepares us for heaven.

One prime example of living a life of service to others would be that of a parent. Parents live their lives for the service of their children. By this we can see how parenthood is a vocation, because it makes us become more patient, humble, kind, compassionate etc. In short, through parenthood, through bringing up our children to be good adults, we become holier, and service to our children prepares us for heaven.

Consider then what happens to married couples who choose not to have children because they find them a burden in terms of time, effort, and cost, and prefer to spend that on themselves.

Another prime example of living a life of service to others would be that of the religious life – people who choose to remain celibate so as to devote their lives in service to the church, in whatever manner that God has chosen for them. By this too we can see how religious life is a vocation, because it makes us holier when we have to serve others. In short, through religious life, through a lifetime of discipline and service to others, we become holier, and service to the other members of the church, and indeed the Church itself, prepares us for heaven.

Consider then what happens to people who choose to remain single to enjoy the pleasures of life for themselves.

This, however, doesn’t mean that those who are not married or celibate cannot be holy people. As we have seen, we can be married or single and still be unholy people. What is important is that Christianity is about service to others because we love God whose glory is revealed through others. And when we make our lives a sacrifice in offering for the God that we love, the glory of God then becomes revealed through us as well. And by this, we are doing things, we are loving God and others in a way that is simply not humanly possible. We are only able to do it because we have God in us.
___________________

Prayer:
Dear Lord, we ask that today we might be able to live a life that is holy in service for others. Give us the strength, the courage, the patience, the kindness, the compassion, in short, the holiness that we might be able to do all that we can do today to be a holy Christian. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Giving us the grace to live superhuman lives.

Upcoming Readings:
Thu, 26 Jul – Exodus 19:1-2,9-11, 16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17; Memorial for Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fri, 27 Jul – Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Tuesday, July 24 – If God Is So Good…

24 Jul

Taking leave of the body

John Quincy Adams, at 80 years of age, was shuffling along outside his home one day, when a neighbour greeted him with the question, “And how is Mr John Quincy Adams this morning?”

The old man replied, “John Quincy Adams himself is very well, thank you. But the home he lives in is sadly dilapidated. It is tottering on its foundations. The walls are badly shaken, the roof is worn. The building trembles and shivers with every wind, and I’m afraid John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it, move on, and change residence and address before long. But he himself is very well.”

- Some people carry an organ donor card around with them. It says that when the inhabitant of the body is finished with it, that others may have whatever parts they need for “repair” jobs on their own bodies.

- taken from “150 More Stories for Preachers and Teachers” by Jack McArdle
__________________

Exodus 14:21 – 15:1, 8-10, 12, 17

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove back the sea with a strong easterly wind all night, and he made dry land of the sea. The waters parted and the sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea, walls of water to right and to left of them. The Egyptians gave chase: after them they went, right into the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the army into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they could scarcely make headway. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” the Egyptians cried, “the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians!” “Stretch out your hand over the sea,” the Lord said to Moses, “that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians marched right into it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians right in the very middle of the sea. The returning waters overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s whole army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left. But the sons of Israel had marched through the sea on dry ground, walls of water to right and to left of them. That day, the Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. Israel witnessed the great act that the Lord had performed against the Egyptians, and the people venerated the Lord; they put their faith in the Lord and in Moses, his servant.

It was then that Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song in honour of the Lord:

I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!

At the breath of your anger the waters piled high;
the moving waters stood up like a damn.
The deeps turned solid in the midst of the sea.
The enemy said: “I will pursue and overtake them,
I will divide the plunder, I shall have my will.
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

You blew with your breath, the sea closed over them.
They went down like lead into the mighty waters.
You stretched forth your hand, the earth engulfed them.

You will lead your people and plant them on your mountain,
the place, O Lord, where you have made your home,
the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have made.
____________________

Matthew 12:46-50

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
____________________

Some years ago, someone asked me, “If God is so good, why did he kill the Egyptians?” I did not know how to answer that question, so I asked someone else who said, “The Old Testament was written by people who wanted to show that God was in charge of everything, so they wrote things like God made the Egyptians stubborn, even though it may not have been the case.”

Till today, I’ve never really been satisfied with that response and explanation. But I do believe that God is in charge of everything. He is in charge of what happens to us in this life, even if we should fall sick and die. The Israelites didn’t know that there’s more after death; there’s the resurrection. But we as Christians have no excuse of saying that we do not know that death is not the end of everything. There’s more to come after death. In fact, after death is where the real life begins.

In the gospel reading, Jesus tells us that anyone who does the will of the Father in heaven are members of the same family of Christ’s. It is true that within every family, there are quarrels and disagreements, even though most of the time, everyone wants to do what is best for the family. That is why in every church, we find Christians squabbling over petty differences, because while we all want to do what we think is best for the Christian family, we have different ideas of what is best for the Christian family. That doesn’t mean that God is one person’s side and not on the other person’s. No, God is on the side of those who are doing his will, and sometimes, it could be that both are doing his will.

For example, can we say that the Egyptians were not doing the will of the Father? We read about how they marched to their death, but we do not know what became of them after that. For all we know, they could be in heaven, in Christ’s family, our family, because they did the will of the Father. The Israelites didn’t know it at that time, but we have the benefit of hindsight: we know that all that has transpired took place because God wanted the Israelites to be his people and himself to be their God.

Could there have been a better way to do this without sacrificing the lives of those poor Egyptians? God didn’t think so. We have got to trust in his all-seeing wisdom that some evil things have to happen so that his will for all of us to be happy with him can occur.

Most of the arguments against God’s existence and benevolence stop too early. They stop at the end of the mortal life. They say, “If God is so good, why does he allow innocent people to die?” But these arguments neglect the existence of the afterlife – that even after innocent people die, they can still be happy in the afterlife. In fact, that is where they can be truly happy.

We don’t know what happens to people after they die – whether they go to heaven or to hell. But a wise person once told me, “We do not speak evil of the dead.” Unless proven otherwise, we believe that God takes them with him into heaven, regardless of what the person has committed on earth, because we cannot judge the person’s heart.

In short, we trust in God’s all-seeing wisdom, that what takes place on earth takes place because it is the best way for God’s will to happen. And we trust in God’s love and mercy, and in the revelation of Christ, that death is not the end of life, but a transformation of the way we experience life. And we seek to always carry out God’s will, to always be the brethren of Christ, knowing that God is on our side, and very possibly on the side of people who we are opposed to as well.

All things will be made clear. On that day, we will not ask any more questions (John 16:23) because everything will be made clear. Until then, keep on believing in the resurrection, for as St. Paul says, “I will tell you something that has been secret: that we are not all going to die, but we shall all be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51)
___________________

Prayer:
Dear Lord, we ask that you help us to truly believe in the resurrection of the body, and what believing in it entails for us in this life. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: The resurrection of the body.

Upcoming Readings:
Wed, 25 Jul – 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28; Feast of St James the Greater, apostle, martyr
Thu, 26 Jul – Exodus 19:1-2,9-11, 16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17; Memorial for Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fri, 27 Jul – Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Monday, July 23 – Wait and See

23 Jul – Memorial for St. Bridget of Sweden, founder

St. Bridget (1302-1373) was the daughter of Birger Persson, the governor and provincial judge of Uppland, and of Ingeborg Bengtsdotter. Her father was one of the greatest landowners in the country, her mother was known widely for her piety, and the family were descendants of the Swedish royal house. She was related to St. Ingrid.

Bridget began receiving visions, mostly of the Crucifixion, at the age of seven. Her mother died c. 1315 when the girl was about twelve years old, and she was raised and educated by an equally pious aunt. In 1316, at the age of 13, she wed Prince Ulfo of Nercia in an arranged marriage and was the mother of eight children including St. Catherine of Sweden. Some of her other children ignored the Church.

She was a friend and counsellor to many priests and theologians of her day. She was the chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Blanche of Namur in 1335, from which position she counselled and guided the Queen and King Magnus II. After Ulfo’s death in 1344 following a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, she pursued a religious life, for which she was harassed by others at the court. She eventually renounced her title of princess, became a Franciscan tertiary and cistercian. She was a mystic, visionary, and mystical writer. She recorded the revelations given her in her visions, and these became hugely popular in the Middle Ages.

She founded the Order of the Most Holy Saviour (Bridgettines) at Vadstena in 1346. It received confirmation by Pope Urban V in 1370, and survives today, though few houses remain. She was a pilgrim to Rome, Italian holy sites, and the Holy Lands. She chastened and counselled kings and Popes Clement VI, Urban VI, and Gregory XI, urging them to return to Rome from Avignon. She encouraged all who would listen to meditate on the Passion, and of Jesus Crucified.

- Patron Saint Index
____________________

Exodus 14:8-18

When Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was told that the Israelites had made their escape, he and his courtiers changed their minds about the people. “What have we done,” they said, “allowing Israel to leave our service?” So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and gathered his troops about him, taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, each manned by a picked team. The Lord made Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn, and he gave chase to the sons of Israel as they made their triumphant escape. So the Egyptians gave chase and came up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea – all the horses, the chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, his army – near Pi-hahiroth, facing Baal-zephon. And as Pharaoh approached, the sons of Israel looked round – and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them! The sons of Israel were terrified and cried out to the Lord. To Moses they said, “Were there no graves in Egypt that you must lead us out to die in the wilderness? What good have you done us, bringing us out of Egypt? We spoke of this in Egypt, did we not? Leave us alone, we said, we would rather work for the Egyptians! Better to work for the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!” Moses answered the people, “Have no fear! Stand firm, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today: the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will do the fighting for you: you only have to keep still.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me so? Tell the sons of Israel to march on. For yourself, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and part it for the sons of Israel to walk through the sea on dry ground. I for my part will make the heart of the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow them. So shall I win myself glory at the expense of Pharaoh, of all his army, his chariots, his horsemen. And when I have won glory for myself, at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and his army, the Egyptians will learn that I am the Lord.”
____________________

Matthew 12:38-42

Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. “Master,” they said “we should like to see a sign from you.” Jesus replied, “It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
____________________

It is good to be back doing these reflections. For those who did not know, I have been down with dengue haemorrhagic fever, and am still recovering from its effects.

One of the things I learnt about dengue fever is that it is an incurable disease. By this I mean that it has no cure, not that it cannot be cured. I was dealing with this matter whenever the doctor, whom I saw daily, asked if I wanted to be admitted into the hospital. There was no point, because even if I was admitted, there was nothing the hospital could do except to monitor my blood platelet count, and make sure it didn’t drop below a dangerous level. If that happened, all the hospital could do was to transfuse blood into me, but they would not have any cure.

The only cure for dengue was waiting for the body to fight back on its own with its own immune system. The body had to produce its own antibodies to fight against the disease. It’s a long and difficult wait because everyday, I was helplessly waiting for my body to fight back, all the while watching the disease progress from one symptom to another. Every time I thought I was getting better, another symptom popped up and my spirits would be down again.

Thus, when I read today’s first reading, especially when Moses said to the Israelites: “The Lord will do the fighting for you: you only have to keep still”, I could totally empathize with the poor Israelites. Sometimes, we want to do something with our own strength. We want to fight back, we want to grow deeper in our faith… we don’t want to wait and watch. We want to do something! But often we can’t do anything more than wait and see how the Lord reveals himself to us. We can’t force growth any more than we can force healing from an incurable disease.

What I have found helpful during this period is that instead of remaining idle, I tapped into the vast resources of the Internet, reading what I could find about dengue fever. I learnt to make sense of the many acronyms on the results of my daily blood tests. I learnt to understand what the terms mean, and what the values indicated. I called doctor friends and asked them to explain certain things, just as I asked the doctor I saw daily about things I did not understand.

It didn’t make my healing process any quicker, but it did provide a greater understanding of the processes. God invites us to do the same whenever we are asked to wait and let him do the work. God invites us to read about it, improve our knowledge so that we can see why and how God works his wonders and reveals his glory to us through the systems that he has already put in place. When we see these systems working through the eyes of faith, we will truly be able to appreciate the wonders of the Lord’s hand at work.

We won’t need to ask for a sign from the Lord when we see the numerous signs he has already given us through the systems he created. When God works the inexplicable in our lives, he always gives us signs to see how he works, so that his glory may be revealed. Even in the mystery of salvation that God worked through Jesus, he provided us with the only sign we needed – the full revelation of himself in the person of Jesus. Yet many people missed that most important sign.

Let us pray therefore that our eyes may be opened to see how God is revealing himself to us in our daily lives. Amen.
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Give Thanks to the Lord for: Restoring our health and making us well.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 24 Jul – Exodus 14:21-15-1; Matthew 12:46-50
Wed, 25 Jul – 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28; Feast of St James the Greater, apostle, martyr
Thu, 26 Jul – Exodus 19:1-2,9-11, 16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17; Memorial for Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fri, 27 Jul – Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Sunday, July 22 – Welcoming God

22 Jul – Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus Our Friend

The mystery of today’s celebration is Christ among us as our friend. We welcome him as Abraham welcomed the Lord at Mamre, and Martha and Mary welcomed Christ at Bethany.

- the Sunday Missal
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We thank God for Daniel’s recovery from the worst part of his illness. Regular OXYGEN will resume tomorrow. In the meantime, let us continue to pray for his full recovery and also for those who suffer illnesses, physical; mental; or spiritual.

God bless
Aloysius
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Genesis 18:1-10

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say’.

Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son’. Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
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Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, Alleluia
Open our Heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia
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Luke 10:38-42

In the course of their journey Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’
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I’ve always felt Abraham’s actions in the first reading to be amazing. It was a hot afternoon and he’s probably dizzy from the sun’s glare; but once he spots 3 perfect strangers passing by, he immediately got up and served them, without any thought of his personal inconveniences or costs. I like to wonder – did he immediately recognise these men to be God’s messengers?

However, after his promise to serve those 3 men, he merely gives Sarah and a servant instructions to prepare those treats. I presume he would have continued to wait on the 3 men in the meantime – much like how Mary listened to Jesus while Martha busied herself with the serving. Of course, it seemed somewhat unfair that the ‘hard labour’ was not shared by the person doing the hosting; yet without the host, who would welcome the guest? Indeed, in these anecdotes, the guest happens to be the Lord himself!

Seeing Abraham and Mary’s examples today, I started wondering how welcoming I myself have been in my daily life… Was I able to see God’s messengers as He sent them my way? How hospitable and generous have I been the times I saw Christ in the people around me? In my efforts to serve others, did I lose sight of that most important goal – to welcome God himself into my heart? Or have I only been more interested in getting people to help me with the hard labour… leaving God to knock on the doors of our hearts with no one to answer Him?

In this reflection, I find Mother Mary’s answer to Gabriel especially inspiring: I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Your will (Luke 1:38). Let us, in serving God through the ministry of our daily lives, be His handmaid according to His will – and welcome the Lord in every encounter.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Gregory Teo)
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Prayer:
That the leaders in our church not be distracted by their duties and lose sight of the Lord’s graces. May we embody Christ in every word we say and every action we make to His people everyday.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: For Jesus’ gentleness and quiet perseverance in seeking our openness to Him.

Upcoming Readings:
Mon, 23 Jul – Exodus 14:5-18; Matthew 12:38-42, Memorial for St Bridget of Sweden, founder
Tue, 24 Jul – Exodus 14:21-15-1; Matthew 12:46-50
Wed, 25 Jul – 2 Corinthians 4:7-15; Matthew 20:20-28, Feast of St James the Greater, apostle, martyr
Thu, 26 Jul – Exodus 19:1-2,9-11, 16-20b; Matthew 13:10-17, Memorial for Ss Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fri, 27 Jul – Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 13:18-23
Sat, 28 Jul – Exodus 24:3-8; Matthew 13:24-30
Sun, 29 Jul – Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13; Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.