OXYGEN

04 Feb
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2 Samuel 2:1-4.10-12

As David’s life drew to its close he laid this charge on his son Solomon, ‘I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man. Observe the injunctions of the Lord your God, following his ways and keeping his laws, his commandments, his customs and his decrees, as it stands written in the Law of Moses, that so you may be successful in all you do and undertake, so that the Lord may fulfil the promise he made me, “If you sons are careful how they behave, and walk loyally before me with all their heart and soul, you shall never lack for a man on the throne of Israel.”‘

So David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the Citadel of David. David’s reign over Israel lasted forty years: he reigned in Hebron for seven years, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three.

Solomon was seated upon the throne of David, and his sovereignty was securely established.
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Mark 6:7-13

Jesus made a tour round the villages, teaching. Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’ And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.; So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.
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Do not take a spare tunic

I recently went for a ministry dinner and caught up with a priest who I had not seen in a while. We chatted a bit before he had to return to his table to finish his meal. After dinner, as a friend and I were leaving, we went up to him to say goodbye. He told us to hang on and made an offer to send us home, which of course we took up. I really appreciated it as it was quite otherwise be quite a long journey home. It was a pleasant surprise to not only save transport fees but have even more time to catch up with the priest. Looking back on it now, it was really a blessing from God.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus sends His disciples out to preach, minister and heal, by themselves. Strangely enough, He instructs them to take almost nothing, not even what many of us would consider basic essentials like food and money. It was necessary that the disciples be so materially ill-equipped. This would allow them to truly experience God’s providence. It would also be a testimony of this providence to those they reached out to. This was something David too wanted Solomon to put his trust in. Above any other advice, he told his son to follow God’s ways.

Many times we surround ourselves with what we want. It is only natural after all. However, if we rely on ourselves for everything, then what use would people like our family and friends be? What use indeed would God be? Yet there is no way we can depend on just ourselves. We need people to care for us, look out for us and just be with us. Likewise we need God to provide for us; we cannot do so if we do not let Him. My brothers and sisters, may we cede control of our lives over to God.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
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Prayer: We pray that God may send us surprises each day.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for sending each of us a guardian angel.

Upcoming Readings:
Thu, 04 Feb – 1 Kings 2:1-4.10-12; Mark 6:7-13
Fri, 05 Feb – 1 Sirach 47:2-13; Mark 6:14-29; Memorial for St Agatha, Virgin, Martyr
Sat, 06 Feb – 1 Kings 3:4-13; Mark 6:30-34; Memorial for Ss Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Sun, 07 Feb – Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11; Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
03 Feb – Memorial for St Blaise, Bishop, Martyr; Memorial for St Ansgar, Bishop

Blaise (d. 316) was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus. He was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him in prayer.

Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise’s cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed his fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats of Blaise’s feast day.

Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn out with wool combs (which led to his association with and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheaded.

Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Ansgar (801-865) was born to the French nobility. He was a Benedictine monk at Old Corbie Abbey in Picardy, and New Corbie in Westphalia. He studied under St. Adelard and St. Paschasius Radbert. He accompanied the converted King Harold to Denmark when the exiled king returned home.

He was a missionary to Denmark and Sweden. He founded the first Christian church in Sweden in c.832. He was abbot of New Corbie c.834. He was ordained Archbishop of Hamburg by Pope Gregry IV. He was a papal legate to the Sacndanavian countries. He established the first Christian school in Denmark, but was run out by pagans, and the school was burned to the ground. He campaigned against slavery.

He was Archbishop of Bremen. He converted Erik, King of Jutland. He was a great preacher, a miracle worker, and greatly devoted to the poor and sick. Sadly, after his death most of his gains for the Church were lost to resurgent paganism.

- Patron Saint Index
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2 Samuel 24:2.9-17

King David said to Joab and to the senior army officers who were with him, ‘Now go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beesheba and take a census of the people; I wish to know the size of the population.’

Joab gave the king the figures for the census of the people; Israel numbered eight hundred thousand armed men capable of drawing sword, and Judah five hundred thousand men.

But afterwards David’s heart misgave him for having taken a census of the people. ‘I have commited a grave sin,’ David said to the Lord. ‘But now, Lord, I beg you to forgive your servant for this fault. I have been very foolish.’ But when David got up the next morning, the following message had come from the Lord to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, ‘Go and say to David, “The Lord says this: I offer you three things; choose one of them for me to do to you.”‘

So Gad went to David and told him. ‘Are three years of famineto come on you in your country,’ he said, ‘or will you flee for three months before your pursuing enemy, or would you rather have three days of pestilence in your country? Now think, and decide how I am to answer him who sends me.’ David said to Gad, ‘This is a hard choice. But let us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is great, and not into the power of men.’ So David chose pestilence.

It was the time of the wheat harvest. The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning till the time appointed and plague ravaged the people, and from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of them died. The angel stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord thought better of this evil, and he said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Now withdraw your hand.’ The angel of the Lord was beside the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was ravagint the people, he spoke to the Lord. ‘It was I who sinned;’ he said, ‘I who did this wicked thing. But these, this flock, what have they done? Let your hand lie heavy on me then, and on my family.’
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Mark 6:1-6

Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? THis is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
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Let us rather fall into the power of God

When I was in primary school we used to have extra classes during the holidays. On one of those days, my father sent me to school before he went to work. As it was still a while before classes I joined a few friends for some street soccer in the school yard. When I went home, my father asked if I was playing soccer. I denied it as I had told him that I would be going to get breakfast. Boy, did that get me into trouble. It turned out that he had stayed back a while and watched me play. All he had wanted to do was to give me some tips. What I got instead was a scolding.

We would have learned early in life that it is better to admit our mistakes. It is a sign of our trust in those to whom we make the admission, one which is more often than not reciprocated. This is the kind of trust David has in God. He knew his fault in taking the census and chose to fall to God against whom he had sinned. It did not take away the punishment but he was right in identifying it as the better choice. This same trust and faith was lacking in Jesus’ home town and so He could work no wonders there.

Many television shows depict how important it is to trust someone if we love them. Events such as Tiger Woods’ scandal have also shown what happens when trust is broken. My father trusted me to tell him the truth and loved me to want to share his knowledge. He was hurt by me breaking that trust. My sisters and brothers, our heavenly Father loves and trusts us more than anyone else could. Let us not hurt Him but fall into His power so as to be enlightened by Him.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
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Prayer: We pray for honesty with our thoughts and feelings.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for being patient with us when we falter.

Upcoming Readings:
Fri, 05 Feb – 1 Sirach 47:2-13; Mark 6:14-29; Memorial for St Agatha, Virgin, Martyr
Sat, 06 Feb – 1 Kings 3:4-13; Mark 6:30-34; Memorial for Ss Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Sun, 07 Feb – Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11; Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time