OXYGEN

02 July - Wednesday in the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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Amos 5:14-15

Seek good and not evil
so that you may live,
and that the Lord, God of Hosts, may really be with you
as you claim he is.

Hate evil, love good,
maintain justice at the city gate,
and it may be that the Lord, God of Hosts, will take pity
on the remnant of Joseph.

I hate and despise your feasts,
I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals.
When you offer me holocausts,
I reject your oblations,
and refuse to look at your sacrifices of fattened cattle.

Let me have no more of the din of your chanting,
no more of your strumming on harps.
But let justice flow like water,
and integrity like an unfailing stream.

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Matthew 8:28-34

When he reached the country of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – creatures so fierce that no one could pass that way. They stood there shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, and the devils pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ And he said to them, ‘Go then’, and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off and made for the town, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. At this the whole town set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave the neighbourhood.
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Integrity like an unfailing stream

A long time ago, in a certain kingdom where the female royalty wore rib-squeezing dresses and lived in castles, there was a princess. She was tall and fair with raven-dark hair, and loved to play cricket. So, for many hours a day, she would stay out in the sun to enjoy her favourite sport. It was not long before she turned very tanned, and many suitors were turned off by her dark skin, because fair-skinned women were in vogue. Feeling under intense pressure to succumb to social norms, she willingly let in door-to-door salespersons, who advised her on products that would turn her into a beauty. In the end, she ended up with hundreds of facial whitening products, tens of bottles of red hair dye (it was in fashion then), and spent the rest of her days in isolation applying these creams on herself.

Don’t we miss the point in life sometimes? We end up making the means an end, or mistake the methods to a goal as goals themselves. Without careful reflection, it is easy to be sucked into aims that we don’t really want or need.

At the heart of the matter, the question of why we do what we do remains. Money, beauty products, games, television, small talk: these things are not bad in themselves, but if abused and obsessed after, they lead to unhealthy and undesirable lifestyles. Likewise, even the things we call good, like charitable actions, should not be hollow practices. Just as Amos warned his listeners not to miss the point of what we do externally by forgetting the deeper significance, we too should constantly peer into ourselves to ponder the reasons behind our actions and goals. Since every action we take is a thanksgiving offering to God, let us offer him the best that we can be.

(Today’s reflection by Melissa Chia)
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Prayer: We pray for the clarity of mind and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to separate the wheat from the chaff in ourselves. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for moments in life when we have been open to God’s direction.

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Upcoming readings:
03 Jul, Thu - Ephesians 2:19-22, John 20:24-29 - Feast of St Thomas
04 Jul, Fri - Amos 87:4-6, Matthew 9:9-13
05 Jul, Sat - Amos 9:11-15, Matthew 9:14-17
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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