29 Apr – Memorial for St. Catherine of Siena, virgin & doctor
St. Catherine (1347-1380) was the youngest child in a large family. At the age of six, she had a vision in which Jesus appeared and blessed her. Her parents wanted her to marry, but she became a Dominican tertiary. She was a mystic and stigmatist. She received a vision in which she was in mystical marriage with Christ, and the Infant Christ presented her with a wedding ring. She was counsellor to Pope Gregory XI and Pope Urban VI. She was proclaimed Doctor of the Church on 4 October 1970.
- Patron Saint Index
Acts 13:13-25
Jn 13:16-20
“…no servant is greater than his master…”
I recently took an unusual business course. While the course did look at how to go about creating mission statements, setting up business strategies and focusing on the financial aspects of how to run one’s business, the attitude was one of servanthood and service.
In running a business, the typical mindset is that in order to be successful in business, one had to be mindful of the ‘ways of the world’. This course, however, focused on the fact that God was the owner of one’s business! The approach to the business was to be one of a steward and to run the business according to God’s rules.
I found this approach very exciting, while at the same time extremely challenging. Depending on which industry one was in, it could mean that one had to step away from practices which were ‘acceptable’ (for instance in how we behave in our ‘dog-eat-dog world’), but were unacceptable according to the teachings of the Bible! In my mind, I was rebelling, thinking of how difficult it is to succeed if we didn’t do what our competitors did!
And yet, by remembering that we are stewards, and by submitting to our God and master, we learn to trust in Him totally. Whatever successes we have will be His successes, and whatever challenges we face need to be lifted up to Him. We learn not to be arrogant, and learn to truly be His servants.
In following God’s ways, we will always be mindful of the fact that He leads us, and that we would never be greater than our God. Freedom and happiness would be ours to have!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)
Prayer: Father God, we pray that we will learn to totally submit to You. Help us to be led by You totally in all aspects of our lives; in our businesses, our relationships with others and in ALL aspects of our earthly lives. Give us a servant heart, oh God!
Thanksgiving: Thank you God, for all that You have given us materially and spiritually. Thank you for being in our lives and allowing us to be Your representatives here in the world.
OXYGEN 
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