OXYGEN

04 Jul – Memorial for St Elizabeth of Portugal

Elizabeth (1271-1336) was a princess with a pious upbringing who became Queen of Portugal before she was a teenager. Elizabeth suffered through years of her husband’s abuse and adultery, praying all the while for his conversion, and working with the poor and sick. She rode onto the battlefield to reconcile her family members twice; once between her husband and son when they clashed in civil war, and between her son and his son-in-law years later, preventing bloodshed. This led to her patronage as a peacemaker, and as one invoked in time of war and conflict.

- Patron Saint Index
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Genesis 27:1-5.15-29

Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see. He summoned his elder son Esau. ‘My son!’ he said to him, and the latter answered, ‘I am here.’ then he said, ‘See, I am old and do not know when I may die. Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country and hunt me some game. make me the kind of savoury that I like and bring it to me, so that I may eat, and give you my blessing before I die.’

Rebekah happened to be listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which she had in the house, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them, covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins of the kids. Then she handed ove rthe savoury and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

He presented himself before his father and said, ‘Father.’ ‘I am here’ was the reply, ‘who are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Please get up and take your place and eat the game I have brought and then give me your blessing.’ Isaac said to hisson, ‘How quickly you found it, my son!’ ‘it was the Lord your God’ he answered ‘who put it in my path.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come here, then, and let me touch you, my son, to know if you are my son Esau or not.’ Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice but the arms are the arms of Esau!’ He did not recognise him, for his arms were hairy like his brother Esau’s, and so he blessed him. He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ And he replied, ‘I am.’ Isaac said, ‘Bring it here that I may eat the game my son has brought, and so may give you my blessing.’ He brought it to him and he ate; he offered him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, ‘Come close, and kiss me, my son.’ He went closer and kissed his father, who smelled the smell of his clothes.

He blessed him by saying:

‘Yes, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a fertile field blessed by the Lord.
May God give you
dew from heaven,
and the richness of the earth,
abundance of grain and wine!
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down before you!
Be master of your brothers;
may the son of your mother bow down before you!
Cursed be he who curses you;
blessed be he who blesses you!’
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Matthew 9:14-17

John’s disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
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Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost.

Over and over again, the bible speaks about how we must follow Christ. We are asked to love like Christ, live like Christ, trust in God like Christ did, and follow Christ’s example of carrying our crosses. In short, we are asked to be like Jesus. There is no way we can fulfil all that Jesus has asked us to do on our own efforts, unless Jesus Himself gives us the grace to do so. The good news is that this grace is freely given to those who sincerely seek it.

With the grace of God, the impossible becomes possible for “nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37). Do we believe this? Somehow whenever I look into myself, I begin to doubt my own capabilities to perform certain tasks, I lose hope, and I feel defeated even before starting a task. However, whenever I refocus on God and keep my sights on Him without looking at myself, hope is restored to its fullness, and I am immediately open to all possibilities (which greatly increases my chances of reaching the things which I thought were impossible).

Just as Peter walked on water when he kept his eyes on Jesus, so we too, who wish to overcome our weaknesses and incompetence, heal from our wounds, and grow into Jesus’ image, must keep out eyes on Jesus. For whenever we start to look inward at ourselves, we will sink as Peter did. The good news is we can keep refocusing our eyes on Jesus and start walking on water again.

My friends, the verse above used to baffle me a lot. But I think I now have a better understanding of what it means. We are like the old wineskins, Jesus is the new wineskins, and the Holy Spirit is the wine. If we truly wish to make the fruits of the Holy Spirit as glorious and beautiful as possible, we must renounce our individual identity and take on the identity of Christ. Only when we live for Jesus, breathe for Him, fix our eyes on Him, will the Holy Spirit’s work in us be most effective. And with Jesus as our life, all things become possible.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jean Cheng)
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Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, intellectually, I know I must take on Your identity and focus on You, instead of always thinking about what I want and focusing on myself. Help me to experience this at an emotional and spiritual level, Lord, so that I may not just know this, but live this.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Holy Spirit for making us into Christ’s image, whenever we allow Him to.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 05 Jul – Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6; Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time