OXYGEN

22 Nov – Memorial for St. Cecilia, virgin, martyr

Cecilia (d. 117) was a cultivated young patrician woman whose ancestors loomed large in Rome’s history. She vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere. She told her new husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in order to see it, he must be purified. He agreed to the purification and was baptized. Returning from the ceremony, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favour; the new convert asked that his brother be baptized.

The two brothers developed a ministry of giving proper burial to martyred Christians. In their turn they were arrested and martyred for their faith. Cecilia buried them at their villa on the Apprian Way, and was arrested for the action. She was ordered to sacrifice to false gods, and when she refused, she was martyred in her turn.

She was suffocated for a while and when that didn’t kill her, she was beheaded. Her grave was discovered in 817, and her body removed to the Church of St. Cecilia in Rome. The tomb was opened in 1599 and her body was found to be incorrupt.

The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.

- Patron Saint Index
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Revelation 11:4-12

I, John, heard a voice saying: “These, my two witnesses, are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the world. Fire can come from their mouths and consume their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and if anybody does try to harm them he will certainly be killed in this way. They are able to lock up the sky so that it does not rain as long as they are prophesying; they are able to turn water into blood and strike the whole world with any plague as often as they like. When they have completed their witnessing, the beast the comes out of the Abyss is going to make war on them and overcome them and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the main street of the Great City known by the symbolic names of Sodom and Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified. Men out of every people, race, language and nation will stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days, not letting them be buried, and the people of the world will be glad about it and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other, because these two prophets have been a plague to the people of the world.”

After the three-and-a-half days, God breathed life into their corpses and they stood up, and everybody who saw it happen was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here”, and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.
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Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, “Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?”

Jesus replied, “The children of the world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implied that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.”

Some scribes then spoke up. “Well put, Master,” they said – because they would not dare to ask him any more questions.
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He is not the God of the dead, but of the living…

I often feel that although God is real, He is far away from me. I feel that He exists but He is not present in every moment of my life. A good friend of mine once told me that it is so hard to believe and hold on to God because we cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch Him. As a result, it is so much easier to get caught up with worldly events that are tangible and available to our immediate senses than to hold on to our faith.

In today’s Gospel, however, we are reminded that our God is not dead but He is alive. Jesus was not just alive 2,000 years ago, as written in the bible. He is also alive today and present in our midst. Do you believe this? Often, I fail to believe this and only acknowledge God’s presence when I am in church, writing a reflection (like this), or doing something that is related to the faith. Besides these few moments, I live as though God is far away, has forgotten me, or is paying attention to something else. I live as though He wasn’t fully present at every point in my life.

Nonetheless, our God is a living God. Whether or not we acknowledge Him, He is beside us, close to us, and all around us. At every moment in our life, He whispers, “If only you knew…” If only we knew that our God is alive at this very moment. If only we knew that our Creator is watching. If only we knew that Jesus is beside us right now. If only we knew… and acknowledged Him. Perhaps our lives would be filled with meaning and hope. Perhaps we would find rest and assurance in His presence. My friends, Jesus is beside you now… whispering “if only you knew…” What will your response be?

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jean Cheng)
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Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me for living as though you were not alive. Please help me to live in your presence at every moment in my life.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to God for He is fully alive and present in our midst.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun 23 Nov – Ezekiel 14:11-12. 15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26. 28; Matthew 25:31-46; Solemnity of Christ The King