Aug 25 – Memorial for St. Louis of France, married man; Memorial for St. Joseph Calasanz, priest, religious founder
As king of France, Louis (1214-1270) made numerous judicial and legislative reforms. He promoted Christianity in France; established religious foundations, aided mendicant orders, propagated synodal decrees of the Church, built leper hospitals, and collected relics.
“In prosperity, give thanks to God with humility and fear lest by pride you abuse God’s benefits and so offend him.” – St. Louis IX
St. Joseph Calasanz (1556-1648) and two fellow priests opened a small, free school for poor children. He was supervising several teachers and hundreds of students. When the school moved to larger quarters, the teaching priests were reorganised into a community recognised as a religious order called Le Sciole Pie (Religious Schools), also known as the Piarists, or Scolopii or Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum or Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools; Joseph acted as superior of the Order.
The community encountered many obstacles. It was dissolved, then reorganised after Joseph’s death. They were restored as a religious order in 1669, and continue their good work today.
- Patron Saint Index
Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22
Mt 22:34-40
“..to disconcert him, one of them put a question..”
As Christians, we are very familiar with the story of how the Pharisees went out of their way to ‘take down’ our Lord. It seemed that they worked hard to throw everything they had at Him, trying to make Jesus look bad and get Him into trouble.
For me, the situation with the Pharisees feels distant. While it was very real, the whole situation reads like a script in a movie, where the bad guys were written that way as part of the plot. At times, I wonder if seeing people being so malicious was a realistic scenario, especially given that these were supposedly God-fearing people and people of faith.
As I reflected on this, I realised that I could be guilty of being such a person, albeit unknowingly.
In some of my previous interactions with people in Church, I have been guilty of trying to ‘take people down’ as well. In those situations, the intention was to show up these other people, trying to show them as people with less-than-pure intentions. In my mind, I felt that others may not have had the best intentions in their actions and decisions within the Church. As I judge myself over those situations, I realise that I might have approached them from a position of love. Instead, I had done so with one of pride and conceit. In those scenarios, I saw myself as the ‘better person’.
What about situations where I may have made a flawed decision or taken a ‘wrong’ position? Well, I would have been more likely to justify that the situation had warranted me to do so. It is very unlikely a result of me having bad intentions.
How hypocritical of me!
Today’s Gospel is a great opportunity for self-reflection. It teaches us that rather than over-valuing ourselves and our thoughts, all our interactions with others provide us opportunities to be loving and other-centric. It is a chance to see others through the lens of love, and not frame others as enemies who are out to do bad.
What a precious gift today’s Gospel has given us!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)
Prayer: Father God, help us to keep You as our focus. Help us to treat others with love, and not to treat them as enemies, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Help us to be a good reflection as Your children.
Thanksgiving: Thank You, Lord, for all the blessings of love. Thank You for being in our lives as we journey towards everlasting life.
OXYGEN 
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