OXYGEN

22 May – Memorial for St. Rita of Cascia, Religious

Rita (1386-1457) was the daughter of Antonio and Amata Lotti, a couple known as the Peacemakers of Jesus; they had Rita late in life. From her early youth, Rita visited the Augustinian nuns at Cascia, Italy, and showed interest in a religious life. However, when she was 12, her parents betrothed her to Paolo Mancini, an ill-tempered, abusive individual who worked as town watchman, and who was dragged into the political disputes of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Disappointed but obedient, Rita married him when she was 18, and was the mother of twin sons. She put up with Paolo’s abuses for 18 years before he was ambushed and stabbed to death. Her sons swore vengeance on the killers of their father, but through the prayers and interventions of Rita, they forgave the offenders.

Upon the deaths of her sons, Rita again felt the call to religious life. However, some of the sisters at the Augustinian monastery were relatives of her husband’s murderers, and she was denied entry for fear of causing dissension. Asking for the intervention of St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Nicholas of Tolentino, she managed to bring the warring factions together, not completely, but sufficiently that there was peace, and she was admitted to the monastery of St. Mary Magdalen at age 36.

Rita lived 40 years in the convent, spending her time in prayer and charity, and working for peace in the region. She was devoted to the Passion, and in response to a prayer to suffer as Christ, she received a chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns, and which bled for 15 years.

She was confined to her bed the last four years of her life, eating little more than the Eucharist, teaching and directing the younger sisters. Near the end, she had a visitor from her home town who asked if she’d like anything. Rita’s only request was a rose from her family’s estate. The visitor went to the home, but it being January, knew there was no hope of finding a flower; there, sprouted on an otherwise bare bush, was a single rose blossom.

Among the other areas, Rita is well-known as a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she has been involved in so many stages of life – wife, mother, widow, and nun, she buried her family, helped bring peace to her city, saw her dreams denied and fulfilled – and never lost her faith in God, or her desire to be with Him.

- Patron Saint Index
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Acts 18:9-18

At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.” So Paul stayed at Corinth preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.

But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. “We accuse this man,” they said, “of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.” Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, I would not hesitate to attend to you; but if it is only quibbles about words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves – I have no intention of making legal decisions about things like that.” Then he sent them out of the court, and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the court house. Gallio refused to take any notice at all.

After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made.
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John 16:20-23

Jesus said to his disciples:

“I tell you most solemnly,
you will be weeping and wailing
while the world will rejoice;
you will be sorrowful
but your sorrow will turn to joy.
A woman in childbirth suffers,
because her time has come;
but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering
in her joy that a man has been born into the world.
So it is with you: you are sad now,
but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,
and that joy no one shall take from you.
When that day comes,
you will not ask me any questions.
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When that day comes, you will not ask me any questions.

If you had a chance to see God now, what might you ask Him? I know I would have a whole list of questions for Him, including what His plans are for me in terms of a career, family life, so on. In fact, every day, I bring to Him a whole list of questions that are weighing me down. It is definitely not easy when I do not hear an immediate answer from God; it begins to make me wonder whether God is truly watching over me and guiding me on the right paths as He has promised.

Today’s Gospel is a promise from God that our worldly sorrows will not be in vain. A day will come when our sorrow will turn to an everlasting joy. A day will come when we will no longer have any doubts, fears, insecurities, and uncertainties because our God would have proven Himself to us. He would have shown us that He is real, that He has real power, that He uses His power in our mundane earthly affairs, that He has never forsaken us, that He has always loved us, and that He has been watching over us. A day will come when we can sit quietly in God’s presence and know that all our questions have been answered.

While I believe that this day will come when Jesus takes us back to Him (i.e. at the end of our human life), I also believe that we do not have to wait so long for such a day to come. It is possible for us to sit in God’s presence, without questions, today. This is possible if we believe that God is everything He said He is in the bible, even before He proves it to us at the end of our lives. This is possible if we place our trust in Him.

We may not know where He will lead us to. We may not know whether He would change so-and-so’s heart. We may not know if we will get the job or life that we want. We may not have the answers we seek today. But as long as we know and trust that our God is divine, that He has loved us since the day we were born, and that He will guide us and walk with us at every moment in our life, we will have a taste of heaven on earth, and we can be still in His love today.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jean Cheng)
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Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I am sorry that I always want you to prove yourself to me before I trust in you. Help me to truly trust you, before you have revealed your plans to me.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the people in our lives who have shown us that it is possible to trust.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 23 May – Acts 18:23-28; John 16:23-28
Sun, 24 May – Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; 1 John 4:11-16; John 17:11-19; Seventh Sunday of Easter; 43rd World Communication Sunday