OXYGEN

05 July - Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Memorial of Anthony Mary Zaccaria, priest

St. Anthony (1502-1539) studied medicine at Padua, receiving his doctorate at age 22. Working among the poor in Cremona, he felt called to the religious life. He was ordained at age 26; legend says that angels were seen around the altar at his first Mass. St. Anthony established two congregations that helped reform the morals of the faithful, encouraged laymen to work together with the apostolate, and frequent reception of Communion.

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Amos 9:11-15

That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins
and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that belonged to me.

It is the Lord who speaks, and he will carry this out.
‘The days are coming now – it is the Lord who speaks –
when harvest will follow directly after ploughing,
the treading of grapes soon after sowing,
when the mountains will run with new wine
and the hills all flow with it.

I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them,
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
dig gardens and eat their produce.

I will plant them in their own country,
never to be rooted up again
out of the land I have given them,
says the Lord, your God.

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Matthew 9:14-17

Then John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’

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The Lord speaks peace to his people.

If you have been a caregiver of young children, you might have been surprised by the capacity of curiosity a child has. “Why do I need to share with my friend at the playground?” or “Why is the sea green?” pop up at unexpected times.

A lot of the times, these questions form because the child is trying to find his or her place in the world. The fundamental question behind many questions marks is, “This is a big strange world; who am I and where do I fit in?” Growing up does little to make the world smaller for us, and we realize that central question pops up again and again, whether we call it ‘mid-life crisis’, or ‘quarter-life crisis’, or any other name.

In the first reading today, a stark contrast from the stern voice of God we have heard in the previous readings from the Book of Amos this week, the Lord promises his people a place to belong to. “I will plant them in my own country, never to be rooted up again” and this is a very important promise that God makes. It is a promise, an answer, which addresses the nagging question of where they belong to (and we can imagine the same question plagued them as it exists for us today).

On hindsight, the first readings of the past week, in which we hear how God wishes to punish a disobedient people, let us know that the people had chosen to belong to other gods, and had forsaken their rightful place as heirs of eternity. Instead, they chose the short-term delights of the world. Each of us will have different answers to the question of belonging, and are called to various unique paths. Also, the question is usually answered over a lifetime, and cannot be settled at once. But if we keep looking towards our creator for answers, and find hope in His promises, we won’t be far off the mark.

(Today’s reflection by Melissa Chia)
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Prayer: We pray for the discipline to continue the search of our identity and mission with perseverance. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for the firm foundation of His promises, will are always true because God cannot be unfaithful.

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Upcoming readings:
06 Jul, Sun - Zec 9:9-10, Romans 8:9. 11-13, Matthew 11:25-30 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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