Jul 13 – Memorial for St. Henry II
Henry II (972–1024) was the son of Gisella of Burgundy and Henry II the Quarrelsome, Duke of Bavaria. He was educated at the cathedral school in Hildesheim by Bishop Wolfgang of Regensburg. He became Duke of Bavaria himself in 995 upon his father’s death, which ended Henry’s thoughts of becoming a priest. He ascended to the throne of Germany in 1002, and was crowned King of Pavia, Italy on 15 May 1004. He married St. Cunegunda, but was never a father. Some sources claim the two lived celibately, but there is no evidence either way.
Henry’s brother rebelled against his power, and Henry was forced to defeat him on the battlefield, but later forgave him, and the two reconciled. Henry was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1014 by Pope Benedict VIII; he was the last of the Saxon dynasty of emperors. He founded schools, quelled rebellions, protected the frontiers, worked to establish a stable peace in Europe, and to reform the Church while respecting its independence.
He fostered missions, and established Bamberg, Germany as a centre for missions to Slavic countries. He started the construction of the cathedral at Basel, Switzerland; it took nearly 400 years to complete. Both Henry and St. Cunegunda were prayerful people, and generous to the poor.
At one point he was cured of an unnamed illness by the touch of St. Benedict of Nursia at Monte Cassino. He became somewhat lame in his later years. Following Cunegunda’s death, he considered becoming a monk, but the abbot of Saint-Vanne at Verdun, France refused his application, and told him to keep his place in the world where he could do much good for people and the advancement of God’s kingdom.
- Patron Saint Index
Gen 44:18-21,23-29,45:1-5
Mt 10:7-15
“…let your peace come back to you.”
The Gospel for today is a continuation of Christ’s instruction to the apostles. As I reflect on it more, the more we choose to follow Christ, the more it gets harder. Though they have the capacity to cure the sick and cast out evil spirits, they have to live simply. They have to do miracles for free. I believe that it is acceptable. But they are not allowed to bring any money at all. Not even a change of clothes and footwear. They will just have to rely on those people who would accept them in their homes. Nowadays, it is not very easy to welcome strangers in our homes, due to security and safety reasons. During the time of Jesus, it was the other way around. They were the ones who had to be more careful to “look for someone trustworthy and stay with him in his home.”
I think one of the highlights of their mission is bringing peace to the home that receives them. That scenario is similar when we give each other the sign of peace during mass. How do we say “peace be with you” to others? Do we really mean it? Or are we saying it just for the sake of saying it? I hope we really want to spread peace to others. There could be someone who will benefit because of that very simple gesture. So next time when we attend mass, let us say “peace be with you” like we truly want to give peace to that person. We all deserve to receive genuine peace.
Even so, there will still be people who will not accept Christ. He promised that “it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah.” It denotes that we will not experience the worst scene ever again. This clearly shows how merciful our God is. As God is merciful Himself, we must also show mercy to others. We must be merciful like the Father.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Beryl Baterina)
Prayer: Father, please give us the grace to accept what you have given us. Grant that we may be able to produce fruits from these gifts.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Father, for the gift of faith. Thank you for those who accepted us as well as those who do not. Thank You for your mercy.
OXYGEN 
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