OXYGEN

August 31, Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Jeremiah 20:7-9
You have seduced me, the Lord, and I have let myself be seduced;
you have overpowered me: you were the stronger.
I am a daily laughing-stock,
everybody’s butt.
Each time I speak the word, I have to howl
and proclaim: ‘Violence and ruin!’
The word of the Lord has meant for me
insult, derision, all day [...]

August 30, Saturday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
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1 Corinthians 1:26 – 31
Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families?
No, it was [...]

29 Aug – Friday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time; Martyrdom of St John the Baptist
To endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather is was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward. Since death was [...]

28 Aug – Thursday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time; St Augustine, bishop, doctor
After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, St Augustine (354-430) became a Manichaean for several years; it taught of a great struggle between good and evil, and featured a lax moral code. A summation of his thinking at the time comes from his [...]

27 Aug – Wednesday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time; St Monica, married woman
St Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted a heresy and was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured [...]

26 Aug – Tuesday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

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2 Thessalonians 2:1 – 17
To turn now, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come [...]

25 Aug – Monday in the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time; St. Louis of France, married man & St. Joseph Calasanz
As king of France, St Louis (1214-1270) made numerous judicial and legislative reforms. He promoted Christianity in France; established religious foundations, aided mendicant orders, propagated synodal decrees of the Church, built leper hospitals, and collected [...]

24 Aug – Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Peter The Rock
We Rejoice today that Christ chose Peter in spite of his human failings to be the rock on which he built his Church. The reason for that choice lies in the unfathomable depth of God’s wisdom. “The Lord is high, yet he looks on the lowly.”
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August 23, Saturday in the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time; St Rose of Lima

A beautiful girl and devoted daughter, St Rose (1586-1617) was so devoted to her vow of chastity, she used pepper and lye to ruin her complexion so she would not be attractive. She lived and meditated in a garden, raising vegetables and [...]

August 22, Queenship of Mary

On Oct 11, 1954, Pope Pius XII promulgated his encyclical “Ad caeli reginam” in which he pronounced this new feast of the Queenship of Mary. It was celebrated on May 31 before Pope Paul VI moved it to Aug 22, a week after the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into [...]