OXYGEN

25 May – Memorial for St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Worker; Memorial for St. Gregory VII, Pope; Memorial for St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin

Bede (672-735) was born around the time England was finally completely Christianized. He was raised from age seven in the abbey of Sts. Peter and Paul at Wearmouth-Jarrow, and lived there the rest of his life. He was a Benedictine monk, and the spiritual student of the founder, St. Benedict Biscop. He was ordained in 702 by St. John of Beverley. He was a teacher and author; he wrote about history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and Bible commentary.

He was known as the most learned man of his day, and his writings started the idea of dating this era from the incarnation of Christ. The central theme of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica is of the Church using the power of its spiritual, doctrinal, and cultural unity to stamp out violence and barbarism. Our knowledge of England before the 8th century is mainly the result of Bede’s writing. He was declared a Doctor of the Church on 13 November 1899 by Pope Leo XIII.

- Patron Saint Index

Gregory (1020-1085) was educated in Rome, Italy. He was a Benedictine monk, and chaplain to Pope Gregory VI. He was in charge of the Patrimony of St. Peter. He was a reformer and an excellent administrator. He was chosen the 152nd pope, but he declined the crown. He was chief counsellor to Pope Victor II, Pope Stephen IX, Pope Benedict X, and Pope Nicholas II. He eventually became the 157th pope.

At the time of his ascension, simony and a corrupt clergy threatened to destroy faith in the Church. Gregory took the throne as a reformer, and Emperor Henry IV promised to support him. Gregory suspended all clerics who had purchased their position, and ordered the return of all purchased church property.

The corrupt clergy rebelled; Henry IV broke his promise, and promoted the rebels. Gregory responded by excommunicating anyone involved in lay investiture. He summoned Henry to Rome, but the emperor’s supporters drove Gregory into exile. Henry installed the anti-pope Guibert of Ravenna, who was driven from Rome by Normans who supported Gregory; the Normans were, themselves, so out of control that the people of Rome drove them out. Gregory then retreated to Salerno, Italy, where he spent the remainder of his papacy.

- Patron Saint Index

Catherine (1566-1607) had a religious upbringing. She was initially sent to a convent at the age of 14, but was taken back home by her family who opposed her religious vocation and wanted her to marry well. They eventually gave in, and Catherine became a Carmelite of the Ancient Observance at 16, taking the name Sister Mary Magdalene. She as a mystic, and led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church and encouraging the sisters in holiness. Her life was marked by many extraordinary graces.

- Patron Saint Index
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Acts 19:1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then how were you baptised?’ he asked. ‘With John’s baptism’ they replied. ‘John’s baptism’ said Paul ‘was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him – in other words Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of these men.

He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out boldy and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months.
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John 16:29-33

His disciples said to Jesus, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them:

‘Do you believe at last?
Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already -
when you will be  scattered, each going his own way
and leaving me alone.
And yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.
I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave:
I have conquered the world.’
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In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world

I have had the privilege to speak to a member of my parish who had served time in prison for an offence that he had committed in the past. He was sharing with me that the feeling of liberation from the walls of prison felt like his soul has liberated and the chains of fear have been destroyed. In a similar manner, we read in today’s readings the importance of having God the Holy Spirit in us.

We see how the Holy Spirit empowers the newly confirmed Christians in Ephesus whom began to preach in tongues of the goodness of God. It seems almost as if their tongues were ‘liberated’ from the bondage of sin and were making up for lost time by praising God and prophesying in His name.

Let us then consider how dangerous the tongue can be in causing destruction and scandal in the lives of all those around us. Words of malice, gossip and scandal serve to act as a counter-witness to the message of God that we are supposed to bring to the world. We need to exercise self-restraint in our words and replace hurtful words with words of love.

The love of God knows no boundaries and this is seen in how Jesus has died for us on the cross. It is our own human limitations that restrict us from showing to the world what God has in store for us and causing us to be shackled to the chains of sin.

Let us take some time today to reflect and pray for God to remind us of the importance of the words that we utter to those around us.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)
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Prayer: God, we pray for the wisdom to choose the words that we speak to all around us.

Thanksgiving: give thanks for the faculty of speech to share God’s glory in the world.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 26 May – Acts of the Apostles 20:17-27; John 17:1-11; Memorial for St. Philip Neri, Priest
Wed, 27 May – Acts of the Apostles 20:28-38; John 17:11-19; Memorial for St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop
Thu, 28 May – Acts of the Apostless 22:30; 23:6-11; John 17:20-26
Fri, 29 May – Acts of the Apostless 25:13-21; John 21:15-19
Sat, 30 May – Acts of the Apostles 28:16-20.30-31; John 21:20-25
Sun, 31 May – Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25; John 15:26-27; 16:12-15; Pentacost Sunday