OXYGEN

29 Sep – Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
St. Michael the Archangel is the leader of the army of God during the Lucifer uprising. Devotion is common to Muslims, Christians, and Jews with writings about him in all three cultures. He is considered the guardian angel of Israel. [...]

28 Sep – Memorial for St. Wenceslaus, martyr; Memorial for St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions, martyrs
Wenceslaus (907-929) was a duke of Bohemia, the grandson and student of St. Ludmilla. He ascended to power when his father was killed during a pagan backlash against Christianity, which he fought with prayer [...]

27 Sep – Memorial for St. Vincent de Paul, priest
St. Vincent de Paul is probably one of the first saints that we hear of, if we are cradle Catholics. Brought up to go for Mass every Sunday, I always saw the members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul [...]

26 Sep – Memorial for Sts. Cosmas and Damian, martyrs
Damian and Cosmas were Arabs and twin brothers. Both were physicians who accepted no payment, which brought many to Christ. The two were martyred for their faith in 303. Both suffered no injury during tortures. Many fables grew up about them, [...]

25 Sep
Guilty!
A street preacher set up his soapbox on the corner of a busy section in town. He was holding forth bravely about God and our need for God, but the only response from passers-by was total indifference.
All of a sudden he switched tactics. As the office workers [...]

24 Sep
Read all about it
A gifted young student graduated from an agricultural college. Full of enthusiasm he said to an elderly farmer, “I have a book that will tell you how to farm ten times better than you are doing now.” After a pause, the farmer said, “But I [...]

23 Sep – Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lord of the Oppressed
Christ is the defender of all who are sacrificed to the god of money, who are manipulated for economic gain. He sacrificed himself as a ransom to them all.
- The Sunday Missal
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Amos 8:4-7
Listen to this, you [...]

22 Sep
Do not be discouraged
A ten-year-old boy was working in a factory in Naples, before present laws on child labour were put in place. His mother was convinced that he had a good singing voice, and by working in the factory he could earn money to pay for music [...]

21 Sep – Feast of St. Matthew, apostle, evangelist
Matthew (name meaning ‘gift of God’) was the son of Alphaeus. He lived at Capernaum on Lake Genesareth. He was a Roman tax collector, a position equated with collaboration with the enemy by those from whom he collected taxes. Jesus’ contemporaries were [...]

20 Sep – Memorial for St. Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and St. Paul Chong Hasang, and their companions, Korean martyrs
Andrew Kim Taegon (d. 1846) was of Korean nobility. His parents were converts and his father was eventually martyred. Andrew was baptized at 15, then travelled 1,300 miles to the nearest [...]