OXYGEN

07 Jan – Memorial for St Raymond of Penyafort, Priest

St. Raymond (1175-1275) was of Aragonian nobility. He was educated at the cathedral school in Barcelona, and became a philosophy teacher at the age of 20. He was a priest. He graduated from law school in Bologna, Italy, and joined the Dominicans in 1218. He was summoned to Rome in 1230 by Pope Gregory IX, and assigned to collect all official letters of the popes since 1150. Raymond gathered and published five volumes, and helped write Church law.

He was made Master General of the Dominicans in 1238. He reviewed the Order’s Rule, made sure everything was legally correct, then resigned his position in 1240 to dedicate himself to parish work. The pope wanted to make Raymond an archbishop, but he declined, instead returning to Spain and the parish work he loved. His compassion helped many people return to God through Reconciliation.

During his years in Rome, Raymond heard of the difficulties missionaries faced trying to reach non-Christians of Northern Africa and Spain. Raymond started a school to teach the language and culture of the people to be evangelized. With St. Thomas Aquinas, he wrote a booklet to explain the truths of faith in a way non-believers could understand. His great influence on Church law led to his patronage of lawyers.

- Patron Saint Index
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1 John 5:5-13

Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth –
so that there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the water and the blood,
and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human witnesses,
but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony,
given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him;
and anyone who will not believe God
is making God out to be a liar,
because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son;
anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.

I have written all this to you
so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God
may be sure that you have eternal life.
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Luke 5:12-16

Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’

His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.
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God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son

There are occasions where I noticed some people who immediately after receiving Holy Communion commence their conversation with those around them. They do not even put up the pretence of saying a short prayer but go straight to their conversations. The first reading of today reminds us of the significance of receiving Holy Communion.

When we receive the Body of Christ, we unite with the mystical body of Christ and become part of the Christian family. Such a moment is sacred and should be spent in prayer with God. With Jesus in our hearts we should speak to Him the innermost fears and concerns that we may have and offer them up to Him. We should take some time to appreciate the time to communicate with God and open up our ears of faith to listen to God’s soft voice speaking to us. In a world filled with many distractions, let us always treasure this time that we have and remember that God is always ready to listen to us.

We get angry when the people whom we speak to do not even bother to look at us in our conversations. This is often interpreted as a sign of disrespect. Jesus Himself shows us the way to overcome this problem: prayer in a quiet environment. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to remember that Jesus loves us and would want us to listen to His voice if only we let Him.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)
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Prayer: Jesus, let us open up our ears to listen to Your word.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the silence in our lives.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 08 Jan – 1 John 5:14-21; John 3:22-30
Sun, 09 Jan – Isaiah 42:1-4.6-7; Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38; Matthew 3:13-17; Feast of the Baptism of the Lord