24 Jan – Memorial for St. Francis de Sales, bishop, doctor of the Church
Salvation is shown to faith, it is prepared for hope, but it is given only to charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of fire hope feeds us with its manna of sweetness, but charity actually introduces us into the Promised Land.
- Saint Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was born in a castle to a well-placed family. His parents intended him to become a lawyer, enter politics, and carry on the family line and power. He studied at La Roche, Annecy, Clermont College in Paris, and law at the University of Padua. He became a Doctor of Law, returned home, and found a position as Senate advocate.
It was at this point that he received a message telling him to “Leave all and follow Me”. He took this as a call to the priesthood, a move his family fiercely opposed. However, he pursued a devoted prayer life, and his gentle ways won over the family.
He became a priest, and a provost in the diocese of Geneva, Switzerland, a stronghold of Calvinists. He was a preacher, writer and spiritual director in the distrcit of Chablais. His simple, clear explanations of Catholic doctrine, and his gentle way with everyone, brought many back to the Roman Church.
He was ordained Bishop of Geneva at the age of 35. He travelled and evangelized throughout the Duchy of Savoy, working with children whenever he could. He was a friend of St. Vincent de Paul. He turned down a wealthy French bishopric. He helped found the Order of the Visitation with St. Jeanne de Chantal. He was a prolific correspondent. He was declared a Doctor of the Church.
Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
Lord, I am yours,
and I must belong to no one but you.
My soul is yours,
and must live only by you.
My will is yours,
and must love only for you.
I must love you as my first cause,
since I am from you.
I must love you as my end and rest,
since I am for you.
I must love you more than my own being,
since my being subsists by you.
I must love you more than myself,
since I am all yours and all in you.
AMEN.
- Patron Saint Index
__________________
1 Samuel 18:6-19:1-7
On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang:
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.’
Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking. ‘They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said, ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’ And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward.
Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David; ‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said, ’so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’
So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’ Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took and oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him.’ Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.
____________________
Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
____________________
Speech is a gift unique to the human species. Some might argue the cases of dolphins and chimpanzees as well but those are still a very grey area. Spoken words allow us to express our thoughts and feelings in a clear and concise that others can understand. Well, that is the theoretical ideal anyway. Things are often not the case.
My brothers and sisters, how many times a day do our sentences carry subtleties and nuances that run contrary to the actual message. Sarcasm is an example of that. Going further, how many times have we spoken well to a person in front of them and ill about him or her when we are with others? Worse still, how many times do we ‘bless’ someone openly but ‘curse’ them in our hearts?
I have done all of that, more often than I would like to admit. We have to ask ourselves if this is how we use our gift of speech. We see in the first reading just how effective speech can be if used for good and to express true things. Jonathan’s words saved David’s life. He had good cause to side with his father since David was a threat to his own inheritance of the throne. Instead of this however, he sang David’s well deserved praises and won him favor with Saul.
To sincerely profess good things about someone; to chastise tactfully when necessary is to bear witness to truth and to act as the voice of God. Even the unclean spirits cast out by Christ were compelled to proclaim the glory of Christ with their words. My sisters and brothers, should we do no less than these?
(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
____________________
Prayer:
Dear Lord, help us to speak with Your words to those we meet each day. Amen.
Give Thanks to the Lord for: Tongues
Upcoming Readings:
Fri, 25 Jan – Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22; Mark 16:15-18; Feast of the Conversion of Paul, apostle
Sat, 26 Jan – 2 Timothy 1:1-8 or Timothy 1:1-5; Luke 10:1-9; Memorial for Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops
Sun, 27 Jan – Isaiah 8:23 – 9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23; Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
————————
To subscribe to this mailing list, send a blank e-mail to this address:
Godismyoxygen-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe to this mailing list, send a blank e-mail to this address:
Godismyoxygen-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
