OXYGEN

18 Nov – Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul

The Basilica of St. Peter is located within the Vatican City. It occupies a unique position as one of the holiest sites and as the greatest of all churches of Christendom. It is the burial site of St. Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, and, according to tradition, was the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome, and therefore the first in the line of the papal succession.

Catholic tradition holds that St. Peter’s tomb is below the altar of the basilica, which is why many popes, starting with the first ones, have been buried there. There has been a church on this site since the fourth century. Construction on the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on Apr 18, 1506, and was completed in 1626.

While St. Peter’s is the most famous of Rome’s many churches, it is not the first in rank, an honour held by the Pope’s cathedral church, the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Contrary to popular misconception, St. Peter’s is not a cathedral, as it is not the seat of a bishop. It is properly termed a basilica.

The Basilica of St. Paul Outside The Walls is one of four churches considered to be the great ancient basilicas of Rome. This basilica was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I over what was believed to be the burial place of St. Paul where it was said that after the Apostle’s execution, his followers erected a memorial over his grave.

In 386 Emperor Theodosius I began the erection of a much larger and more beautiful basilica with a nave and four aisles with a transept. The work including the mosaics was not completed till the pontificate of Leo I. Under Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), the basilica was again extensively modified. As it lay outside the Aurelian walls, this basilica was damaged during the Saracen invasions in the ninth century. Consequently, Pope John VIII fortified it, the monastery, and the dwellings of the peasantry forming the town of Joannispolis which existed until 1348 when an earthquake totally destroyed it.

On 15 Jul 1823, the negligence of a workman repairing the roof resulted in a fire which almost totally destroyed the basilica. Alone of all the churches in Rome, it had preserved its primitive character for 1435 years. The whole world contributed to its reconstruction. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, and the Emperor of Russia sent the precious malachite and lapis lazuli of the tabernacle. The work on the principal façade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian government, which declared the church a national monument.

The basilica was reopened in 1840 but was reconsecrated only 15 years later at the presence of Pope Pius IX with 50 cardinals. On 31 May 2005, Pope Benedict XVI ordered the basilica to come under the control of an archpriest. On the same day, he named Archbishop Andrew Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo as its first archpriest.

- Wikipedia
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Acts of the Apostles 28:11-16. 30-31

At the end of three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island; she came from Alexandria and her figurehead was the Twins. We put in at Syracuse and spent three days there; from there we followed the coast up to Rhegium. After one day there a south wind sprang up and on the second day we made Puteoli, where we found some brothers and were much rewarded by staying a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

When the brothers there heard of our arrival they came to meet us, as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage. On our arrival in Rome Paul was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete freedom and without hindrance from anyone.
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Matthew 14:22-33

After the crowds had eaten as much as they wanted, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them saying, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” It was Peter who answered, “Lord,” he said, “if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.” “Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. “Lord! Save me!” he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. “Man of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
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“Lord,” he said, “if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.”

If there is something that the gospels want to teach us about prayer, it is that the Lord always prayed before He did something important. Before He chose the Twelve Apostles, the Lord spent the night in prayer. Before He was arrested by the Jews, the Lord spent time in prayer. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus too spent the night in prayer, right before He walked across the lake and calmed the storm. The gospel reading tells us that these two actions helped the disciples to recognize that Jesus was the Son of God.

In Pope Benedict XVI’s book “Jesus of Nazareth”, the pope writes about the ‘face-to-face dialogue’ that Jesus had with the Father, which was the heart of His mission. Jesus had come into the world to reveal the Father to humans, and it is only because Jesus could see the Father ‘face-to-face’ that He could reveal the Father to us. It is this intimate relationship that the Son has with the Father that is at the heart of His mission.

As Christians who are baptized into the Church and share a common humanity with Jesus, we too share in His mission to reveal the Father to those who have not seen Him. We do so by revealing Christ who in turn reveals the Father. We can only do so if we first have that ‘face-to-face’ dialogue with Jesus, and we have this encounter with Christ through prayer.

Prayer is not about reciting set formulae or simply reading the Bible. Prayer, as Jesus taught us, is about an encounter with God, a heart-to-heart, face-to-face encounter with God. Just as Jesus revealed the Father in everything that He said and did, so too we reveal Christ in everything that we say and do. The more intimate our relationship with Christ, the more of Christ we will be able to reveal to those that we meet.

This does not mean that we need to have seen Jesus in person to reflect Him in our behaviour, for Paul never met Him in person but was still able to encounter Him. There are many ways in which we can encounter Christ.

The Church in the present day highly recommends the practice of Lectio Divina, which is a way of reading the scriptures that allows us to enter into communion with God and to increase in knowledge of God’s Word. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen, and finally, pray with God’s Word who, ultimately, is Jesus Christ Himself.

Let us in our own way work towards a deeper and more intimate communion with God through praying the Word of God, so that we might be able to better reflect Christ to others in our lives.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: Dear Lord, we ask that you enable our relationship with You to become more intimate, so that one day, we can say as St. Paul wrote, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for the Word of God.

Upcoming Readings:
Wed 19 Nov – Revelation 4:1-11; Luke 19:11-28
Thu 20 Nov – Revelation 5:1-10; Luke 19:41-44
Fri 21 Nov – Zechariah 2:14-17; Matthew 12:46-50; Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Sat 22 Nov – Revelation 11:4-14; Luke 20:27-40; Memorial for St. Cecilia, virgin, martyr
Sun 23 Nov – Ezekiel 14:11-12. 15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26. 28; Matthew 25:31-46; Solemnity of Christ The King