OXYGEN

11 Jul – Memorial for St. Benedict, Abbot

Born to Roman nobility, Benedict (c. 480–547) was the twin brother of St. Scholastica. He studied in Rome, Italy, but was dismayed at the lack of discipline and lackadasical attitude of his fellow students. He fled to the mountains near Subiaco, living as a hermit in a cave for three years. He was reported to have been fed by a raven.

The virtues that St. Benedict (480-547) demonstrated as a hermit prompted an abbey to request that he lead them. His discipline was such that an attempt was made on his life; some monks tried to poison him, but he blessed the cup and rendered it harmless. He destroyed pagan statues and altars, and drove demons from groves sacred to pagans.

At one point there were over 40,000 monasteries guided by the Benedictine Rule that he wrote, which can be summed up as “Pray and work”.

- Patron Saint Index
____________________

Genesis 49:29-33; 50:15-26

Jacob gave his sons these instructions, ‘I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me near my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial plot. There Abraham was buried and his wife Sarah. There Isaac was buried and his wife Rebekah. There I buried Leah. I mean the field and the cave in it that were bought from the sons of Heth.’

When Jacob had finished giving his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, and breathing his last was gathered to his people.

Seeing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph intends to treat us as enemies and pay us in full for all the wrong we did him?’ So they sent this message to Joseph: ‘Before your father died he gave us this order: “You must say to Joseph: Oh forgive your brothers their crime and their sin and all the wrong they did you.” Now therefore, we beg you, forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.’ Joseph wept at the message they sent him.

His brothers came themselves and fell down before him. ‘We present ourselves before you’ they said ‘as your slaves.’ But Joseph answered them, ‘Do not be afraid; is it for me to put myself in God’s place? The evil you planned to do me has by God’s design been turned to good, that he might bring about, as indeed he has, the deliverance of a numerous people. So you need not be afraid; I myself will provide for you and your dependents.’ In this way he reassured them with words that touched their hearts.

So Joseph stayed in Egypt with his father’s family; and Joseph lived a hundred and tens years. Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children, as also the children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, who were born on Joseph’s lap. At length Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die; but God will be sure to remember you kindly and take you back from this country to the land that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ And Joseph made Israel’s sons swear an oath, ‘When God remembers you with kindness be sure to take my bones from here.’

Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten; they embalmed him and laid him in his coffin in Egypt.
____________________

Matthew 10:24-38

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?

‘Do not be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundred of sparrows.

‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heave. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
____________________

Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body…

Have you ever feared for your life? I do not mean figuratively like because you did finish up a big project or because you upset your significant other. I mean the literal end of your life. I once did in primary school. We used to catch creepy crawlies. One of these was a tree-dwelling lizard which could bite back. An old wife’s tale regarding such bites was that they would kill you by noon. You can guess how I felt the first time I was bitten. My nine-year-old heart was beating frantically and my mind lamented that I was too young to die. Those were the longest two hours to noon I experienced.

Fear is a very primal feeling that exists in every one of us. Fear of some things like death can be especially strong and persistent. This was the fear experienced by Joseph’s brothers. They bore it long after they had supposedly reconciled. Yet Jesus tells the disciples that they need to overcome this fear. This is easier said that done, especially if you have no precedent to prepare you. The answer as Christ pointed out was in remembering that God cared deeply for them. This applies to fear of all other things as well.

Each of us has things which can affect us deeply. We can even experience these things on a daily basis no less. How can we begin to deal with such assaults? There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Perhaps, my brothers and sisters, we can start by beginning each day recollecting that we are much more than sparrows.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
____________________

Prayer: We pray that we when we reach the end of our mortal lives, we will do so in friendship with Christ.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for hospices, which strive provide the dying with a measure of dignity and peace.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 12 Jul – Amos 7:12-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 7-13; Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time; Bible Sunday