OXYGEN

24 Jul - Thursday in the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time
                    St. Sharbel Makhluf, priest
St. Sharbel was a Lebanese monk, born in a small mountain village and ordained in 1858. Devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he spent the last twenty three years of his life as a hermit. Despite temptations to wealth and comfort, St. Sharbel taught the value [...]

23 Jul - Wednesday in the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time
                    St. Bridget of Sweden, religious founder
Coming from a noble yet religious background, St. Bridget (1302-1373) was friend and counsellor to many priests and theologians of her day. As chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Blanche of Namur, she counselled and guided the Queen and King Magnus II. She was harassed by [...]

22 Jul - Tuesday in the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time,
                  St Mary Magdalene, disciple of the Lord
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Jul 22 – St. Mary Magdalene, disciple of the Lord
Mary Magdalene was one of the few apostles who stayed with Jesus while he suffered and died on the Cross. She was the first one to see the risen Jesus. Jesus told her [...]

21 Jul - Monday in the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time,
                  St Lawrence Brindisi, priest, religious doctor
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St Lawrence (1559-1619) joined the Capuchin Friars in 1575. He studied theology, the Bible, French, German, Greek, Spanish, Syriac, and Hebrew. He was an effective and forceful preacher in any of his several languages, founded convents and wrote catechisms. As the chaplain of [...]

20 July - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Wisdom 12:13. 16-19
There is no god, other than you, who cares for every thing,
to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly;
Your justice has its source in strength,
your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all.
You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned
and you expose the [...]

19 July – Saturday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
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Micah 2:1-5
Woe to those who plot evil,
who lie in bed planning mischief!
No sooner is it dawn than they do it
– their hands have the strength for it.
Seizing the fields that they covet,
they take over houses as well,
owner and house they confiscate together,
taking both man and inheritance.
So the Lord [...]

18 July – Friday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
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Isaiah 38:1-8, 21-22
In those days Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, ‘The Lord says this, “Put your affairs in order, for you are going to die, you will not live”.’ Hezekiah turned his [...]

17 July – Wednesday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
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Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19
The path of the upright man is straight,
you smooth the way of the upright.
Following the path of your judgements,
we hoped in you, O Lord,
your name, your memory are all my soul desires.
At night my soul longs for you
and my spirit in me seeks for you;
when your [...]

16 July – Wednesday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The Church celebrates on this day the feast of the Scapular of Mount Carmel. The scapular, which derives its name from the Latin word scapulæ, meaning shoulders, is a dress which covers the shoulders. It is best known among as the name of [...]

13 July – Tuesday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
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Isaiah 7:1-9
In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Razon the king of Aram went up against Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to lay siege to it; but he was unable to capture it.
The news was brought to [...]