OXYGEN

05 Jan- Monday after Epiphany of the Lord

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1 John 3:22-4:6

Whatever we ask God,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.

It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust;
test them, to see if they come from God,
there are many false prophets, now, in the world.
You can tell the spirits that come from God by this:
every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh
is from God;
but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus
is not from God,
but is the spirit of Antichrist,
whose coming you were warned about.
Well, now he is here, in the world.
Children,
you have already overcome these false prophets,
because you are from God and you have in you
one who is greater than anyone in this world;
as for them, they are of the world,
and so they speak the language of the world
and the world listens to them.
But we are children of God,
and those who know God listen to us;
those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.
This is how we can tell
the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.

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Matthew 4:12-17. 23-25

Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:

‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.’

From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.

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This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood

I always remembered watching documentaries on nature and sometimes they feature non-poisonous snakes that have camouflage patterns that are similar to counterparts that emit poisonous venom in a bid to protect themselves from being eaten. Generally it is the local inhabitants who possess the ability to distinguish between the two and this skill can only be acquired with ground experience. I believe that we can draw parallels with this and today’s readings.

The first reading warns us of the importance of discerning between good and evil spirits by seeing whether they acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. However, the ways of the world have become increasingly sophisticated and it is only through prayer that we can develop our skills of discernment to aid us in our Christian journey. This is admittedly not an easy task but it is certainly something that we need as we grow in our spiritual journey for it enables us to bring light to those that have not received Christ.

There is an urgent need for us to discern between good and evil spirits in this age especially since information often presented in half-truths. It will be good if we can make an effort to spend some quiet time; by either going for Mass earlier or leaving later and use this time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten our hearts as we reflect on issues that are troubling us at this present moment.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)
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Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all spiritual directors who have a heavy responsibility to guide their charges.

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Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 06 Jan - 1 John 4:7-10, Psalm 71,  Mark 6:34-44 Tuesday after Epiphany
Wed, 07 Jan - 1 John 4:11-18, Psalm 71, Mark 6:45-52, Wednesday after Epiphany, St Raymond of Penyafort
Thu, 08 Jan - 1 John 4:19-5:4, Psalm 71, Luke 4:14-22, Thursday after Epiphany
Fri, 09 Jan - 1 John 5:5-13, Psalm 147,  Luke 5:12-16, Friday after Epiphany
Sat, 10 Jan - 1 John 5:14-21, Psalm 149, John 3:22-30, Saturday after Epiphany
Sun, 11 Jan - Isaiah 55:1-11. Psalm ISaiah 12. 2-3, 4. 5-6, 1 John 5:1-9, Mark 1:7-11